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Cover photos: Top left, clockwise, National Manufacturing (Mills) LITTLE MONTE CARLO 1897-1910 (see page 78),
Bill Whelan Photography. Groetchen Tool IMP 1940-1951 (see page 151), Rich Penn collection. Kelley Manufacturing
Company FLIP FLAP 1901-1903 (see page 87), Bill Whelan Collection. Drobisch Bros. And Co. ADVERTISING
REGISTER 1896-1899 (see page 73), Ken Rubin Photography.

Illustrated Guide to Collectible Trade Stimulators
Volume 2

About the Author:
Author Dick Bueschel is a coin machine historian, collector, author and editor by avocation. Professionally he is an advertising
man. Dick is an executive in an industrial advertising agency located in Chicago and is responsible for a number of the agency’s key
industrial accounts.

About COIN SLOT BOOKS
The publishing house known as Coin Slot Books didn’t exist in the early summer of 1978, but by the end of the same year it was the
country’s best-known publisher concentrating on the specialized field of collectible coin machines. The first two books in the field, cov-
ering slot machines and trade stimulators, have led to a broad selection of original books, including the detailed Coin Slot Guides, as
well as catalog reprints designed for the coin machine collector, dealer and investor.
To get a list of offerings, write: Coin Slot Books, 4401 Zephyr Street, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033-3299.

About The Coin Slot
This book didn’t come out of thin air. It was the logical extension of The Coin Slot, the first and foremost quarterly magazine of
coin-operated mechanical devices, including pinball games, juke boxes, vending machines, arcade and amusement machines and, of
course, slot machines. If you want to learn more about coin-operated machines, as well as keep up with what the collectors will be doing
in the coming months and years, you’ll want to read The Coin Slot, published quarterly by Hoflin Publishing Ltd., 4401 Zephyr Street,
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033-3299. Annual subscription is $36 domestic, $40 foreign; sample issues $10 each.

Illustrated Guide to
Collectible Trade Stimulators
Volume 2
Revised Edition

Richard M. Bueschel

Including a guide to finding antique coin machines and

a listing of popular Trade Stimulators of the 1870-1919 period by maker, name and date.

Illustrated Guide to Collectible Trade Stimulators, Volume 2

Including a guide to finding antique coin machines and
a listing of popular Trade Stimulators of the 1870-1919 period by maker, name and date

Compiled and written by Richard M. Bueschel
Pricing by a panel of eight Trade Stimulator and Counter Game collectors, dealers and enthusiasts

Published by. Hoflin Publishing Ltd.
Publishers of The Coin Slot, the quarterly magazine for
the collectors of antique coin-operated mechanical devices

First Printing, January 1981
Revised Trade 2 Edition, May 1993

Copyright © 1981 and 1993 by Richard M. Bueschel
All rights reserved by Author
Library of Congress Number 78-59550 (V.2)
ISBN 0-86667-005-X (V.2 Revised)
ISBN 0-86667-003-3 (Set)

Rededicated To
Trade Stimulator collectors Bill Whelan, Gene Foster, Mel Getlan, the late Dave Evans, Stan
Harris and Allan Pall, for their continued encouragement and help. The decade since the first pub-
lication of Trade 2 have taken “Daddy Dave” Evans from us, but all the remaining are healthy,
enthusiastic and helpful. Thanks again.

Other books by Dick Bueschel

Communist Chinese Airpower (Praeger, 1968)
Aircam Japanese Fighters (Osprey, 1970-1971)
Aircam Japanese Bombers (Osprey, 1972-1973)

Illustrated Guide to Collectible Slot Machines,

4 volumes (Hoflin, 1988)
Illustrated Guide to Collectible Trade Stimulators and Counter Games, 2 volumes (Hoflin, 1991)
Bueschel’s Saloon Series, 1 volume (Hoflin, 1989)
Pinball 1, Bagatelle to BAFFLE BALL (Hoflin, 1988)
Jennings Slot Machines (Hoflin, 1992)

Books by Dick Bueschel in collaboration with other authors
Arcade 1, Illustrated Historical Guide to Arcade Machines, by Dick Bueschel and
Steve Gronowski (Hoflin, 1993)

About The Prices For This Volume

The vintage machine prices indicated in the insert accompanying this volume have been based
on averages of current market values of “best estimates” for the machines listed as provided by a
panel of eight authorities at the time of publication. These prices should not be regarded as firm
buy-or-sell figures but rather should be used as approximate value indicators. Like many fine
antiques, vintage coin machine values tend to frequently fluctuate, both up and down, with market
values different than those on these pages to be expected at any point in time. Buyers and sellers
should expect to pay or receive amounts based on the many current market variables of value, con-
dition, special features and machine popularity — particularly the current “Fad Factor’ — at the
time of any transaction. While the prices expressed in this folder cannot be expected to reflect the
precise market values at variable points in time, they do provide a guide to specific machine desir-
ability and reveal the status relationships between one machine and another.

Original Foreword to An Illustrated Price Guide to the 100
Most Collectible Trade Stimulators — Volume 2

by Richard M. Bueschel
Pricing by Larry Lubliner

Prior to the summer of 1978 no books or catalog reprints aimed directly at coin machine col-
lectors, antique dealers and investors had gone over the one thousand mark in sales. In July of that
year Dick Bueschel’s landmark book An Illustrated Price Guide to the 100 Most Collectible Slot
Machines, published by Coin Slot Books, was put on the market. Before ninety days were up the
book had sold over 1500 copies and sales were climbing. The message was clear. There are far
more coin machine collectors, dealers, antique investors and enthusiasts across the country than
anyone dreamed there were, and the numbers are obviously growing rapidly.

100 ... Collectible ... Slot Machines quickly became the standard guide book in the exciting
new field of collectible coin machines covering both automatic payout slot machines and a smat-
tering of trade stimulators and counter games. It was the latter group of machines that came in for
special attention by many of the buyers of the first volume, suggesting that the non-payout trade
machines were becoming popular in their own right. Before the slot volume even came out, Coin
Slot Books asked author Dick Bueschel if he could come up with another book, this time featuring
trade stimulators and counter games in the first book to be devoted to the subject. As luck would
have it, writer-collector Bueschel had long been an early trade stimulator collector and had already
started to amass the material need for such a book. With that, things moved rapidly and the first
volume of An Illustrated Price Guide to the Most Collectible Trade Stimulators was put on the
market at the end of November of the same year. By that time the 100 Most Collectible ... format
had developed a loyal and expanding following, and advance sales of the book were over five hun-
dred copies before publication. By the end of the year the trade stimulator book was pushing the
record of the slot machine book with both becoming the standard identification and pricing guides
of their genre.

It was only the beginning, for antique coin machine buyers, sellers, dealers, collectors and
investors were soon clamoring for more information about their favorite subject, rapidly making
these clever working and playing machines the hottest new area of collectibles in the country. The
answer was a second volume for both books, adding an additional one hundred machines to each
machine class, plus descriptions of many more, with more volumes scheduled to follow.

An Illustrated Price Guide to the 100 Most Collectible Trade Stimulators — Volume 2 takes off
where the first volume ended. An additional one hundred of these fascinating commercial
machines are identified, described and priced. The new material in this second volume will partic-
ularly appeal to novice collectors, for it shows how and where to obtain these machines, and gives
invaluable advice about building up a significant collection on a modest budget. Volume 2 is
equally important to the advanced collector, going into detail about machine identification and
insurance protection. But above all else it is the machines themselves that are the stars of the book,
with dozens of old and rare trade stimulators and counter games illustrated and described for the
first time in print. Written in a free and easy style that quickly gets the reader involved and
enthused, while still providing the serious identification and pricing data needed by the advanced
collector and professional antique investor, An Illustrated Price Guide to the 100 Most Collectible
Trade Stimulators — Volume 2 is fun to browse, a joy to read, and a veritable advance education in
the field of collectible coin operated trade stimulators and counter games from their beginnings to
their final day in the sun.

Original Acknowledgements

It usually takes two working arms to produce a book on any non-fiction subject. The first is
the writer/researcher supported by family, friends and whatever editing and typing is needed. The
second, naturally, is a publisher, particularly one willing to take a chance on a book and front the
funds needed to produce and promote it. I’ve been blessed on both counts. My wife, daughters,
extended family and friends have all tacitly and enthusiastically pushed me along. My executive
assistance, Jody Clapper, has typed, edited, retyped and organized my material — and it isn’t easy
to follow by a long shot (mostly because I’ve got too many other things going on at the same time)
— until she has almost become a coin machine expert in her own right. The machine description
typing was done by Barbara Barncard who, like others before her, got interested in coin machines.
As for a publisher, I couldn’t have better ones: Bill and Rosanna Harris, publishers of The Coin
Slot and the entrepreneurs of Coin Slot Books. Bill always has one reply to what appears to be a
good book idea. He says “‘Let’s do ‘er’; and then he does.

So much for what is usual. The important thing is that books about coin machines are unusu-
al, primarily because there are no ready sources for information and pictures. You can’t go to a
library and find the stuff, or to a photo collection and pick up the pictures you need. You’ve got to
go to literally hundreds of research resources, from libraries to the antique market to people. When
you need to illustrate the machines there is only one resource, and that’s the collectors, the often
unrecognized third arm needed to do the job. Only they have preserved these marvelous devices,
not museums or associations or businesses or government agencies, and only the collectors can
help the writer/researcher. |

And they all helped, magnificently! There are almost as many credits as there are pictures in
this book for the simple reason that the country had to be scoured to come up with the machines to
provide a true story of the available collectible trade stimulators. Every collector contacted will-
ingly permitted open access to their collections, and when asked about the pictures the answer was
almost always the same, “Sure, what do you need?”

I want to thank them all for their great help, their guidance and information, and their enthusi-
asm for this book. They heavy helpers were Bernie and Pat Alexander, Dave Evans, Gene Foster,
Fred Fried, Mel Getlan, Stan Harris, Larry Lubliner and Bill Whelan. Special photography was
done by the late Dan Adams, professional photographer Pat Alexander of Bates City, Missouri,
Philip F. Elwert, curator, Vermont Historical Society, Bill Whelan, Gill Folsom, Bob Frankenberg-
er, Bud Garanventa of Harrahs, Allan Paul, Rich Penn, and Ken Rubin. Backing all of this up are
the collectors who added their information, pictures and machines to the coverage, including the
late Ed Barr, Larry Birnbaum, Allan Bond, Noland DeBorde, Elmer Cummings, Marshall Fey, Hal
Goetze, Bernie Gold, Richard Goldman, Tony Goodstone, Mike Gorski, Steve Gronowski, Mark
Haber, Marv Halpert, Steve Heckt, John Hermann, Tim LaGanke, Bob Legan, Edna Luckman,
Edwin H. Mosler, Jr., Gordon Nichol, Russell Riberto, Bob Rosenberger, Larry Stone, Joe
Vojacek, Ira Warren and Jack West. Final and very special thanks to Larry Lubliner for the pric-
ing, mostly because every time he does this he sticks his neck out a mile.

Thanks to all of you. It’s your book as much as it is mine.

Dick Bueschel
Mt. Prospect, Illinois
June 29, 1980

ABs COM TOCKEY ChB ivjsnsacnnces 121
PDN Br Li ec onnccuinvensnivehiadieceinnemsae 138
ADVERTISING REGISTER................. 73
American Automatic AUTOMATIC

DICE SHAKING MACHINE............ 66
AMERICAN EAGLE .....cccsescossvsssenseenses 150
Amusement Machine COMBINATION

ge | id Sl. of greet momen ences 68
Atlas MIDGET ROULETTE................ 113
PURSE TICINO Da scoeesavsteviackecvuxmimeenss 86
AUTOMATIC CARD MACHINE........ 94
AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKING

PEP PIU scpcsupsureorunenssiiecad seu wvendeinacnues 66
BAB VENDOR svccivccsvcscetswiecostecevanens 118
Baker PICK-A-PACK...................cceceeee 149
EE UT ci tcasaspcsiepeiarnaineasen aataricontions [22
Bally LITE-A-PA A, sncssnsniccaninsyseacvvcanaes 141
Bell (Wrigley ’s) DEWEY cccesessscccosennnien- 83
BULL GLE waiciiscdietcniare unex 143
Bennett STUCKEY CIGAR: scncceieccccassses 84
BLACK CAT (Griswold) ccccnsessscasvevevanee 71
BLACKJACK. (MAS) wcscssceistesssssniaswsaen 131
Binebid TARGE 0 swacsescecwsncenek cvsuseanaees 111
PO Ps ches ada disposi brsealecnciunsiteiitedaenmeuans Te
Bradtord LAR]. csisescacsescuessvsseisesevoceanes 103
Bae FOALED sess ctu esr rnneoncvencns 158
Buckley PURITAN BABY

NI dost wees catalase: hig
Canda AUTOMATIC CARD

PPR IN Bi scpeiceiececnicesticocsoamsicuasecsounoot 94
Catia BON ANZA. isicscaicercsvnesasasmcinasnsas Tz
Canda JUMBO SUCCESS: <csiscscssccscvosces 81
COAT BONY eccieal Sectancovwsianseaccbacinatoatle 96
CS TNE a vccicaceccecrotonerin wands 116
Cattle OUTIN TET Bivovcccenussscievrserccsaseeseas 88
Caille ROY AL IUIMBO isiicvscctescciursensvine 89
Caille WINNER: «ovsccsssecocsevesisesvescssncesecgers 67
SEINE Fe NEC cesvintaitioonccascesiaees 133
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE ................. 120
COIN TARGET BANK sivcccenersnsadvseveierses 70
COLUMBIAN FORTUNE TELLER.... 64
COMBINATION “JACKPOT?” ............. 68
Comstock THE PERFECTION ............. 76
CRAP SHOOTER vvcasecsvencencanvestensacniwins 106
CRAPSHOOTERS DELIGHT .............. 85
Ce CE ccicrvcessinsttearramuanoaates: 122
RU CAA eves cacetensesoxcloenaiacecentnienvers 12
Daval AMERICAN EAGLE................. 150
eave BE BL iccscatasiscsceusesticesencons 143
Daval CENTASMOKE......................... 133
Daval CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE....... 120
PPA CRUE co sascoviceeina dasenteaiidanlcicomninsnsiniess 152
TAAL OR caiiveaceeanwrannnsaiaceonteraseen 144
Daval JOKER GUM VENDOR............ 145
Daval 1940 DIVIDER PENNY

Da ides lacccctennsstaessniae sta salunaiaint beat 153
Daval STAR AMERICAN EAGLE .... 150
Daval WIN-A-SMOKE ...................060 130
Decatur FAIREST WHEEL No. 2......... Vi
Decatur FAIREST WHEEL No. 3......... 82
DEUCES WILD (Sanders).................. 148
OES 0 Y CE icc eicerccsiananeercansiedg-seamamawsedadviws 83
Ee picckok sy eddoesaceabanaseachemanaeneseniaauededad 105
DISCOUNT BICYCLE WHEEL ........... 74
1940 DIVIDER PENNY PACK.......... 153
DIXIE DOMINOES wis cicscecscacvcscsconsrencne 140

THE 100 MACHINES

Table of Contents

DRAW PORER (POY ) sisissinnsssexainnnnsancesias 97
DRAW POKER (Watling)...............005 102
Drobisch ADVERTISING

ECE, bo Gi OL Sa eee nee ae ee ree 73
Drobisch STAR ADVERTISER............ 75
Dann PERFECTION sccccscevoncmsasreevees 101

Dunn WRIGLEY DICE MACHINE... 100
H.C. Evans SARATOGA SWEEP-

Be a vidieieitncineeanattenaceimes 119
Exhibit GET-A-PACK.................cccee 132
Exit PICA BAU iwinseconnisacaiesdoadsans 114
FAIREST WHEEL No. 2 ..............0000008 ie
FAIREST WHEEL NG). 3 scccscoarsrrecorvnn 82
FAIREST WHEEL, NEW IMPROVED

OY AN) socvedireiccassveamiainavenedieavensiiess 104
A IEE wasccmsintovietaneinieacnoneaisaawantent 112
Fey DRAW PORER, csjicissnsscoseusnsasdccnainds 97
POY TALON DRE wwsscsincpriadeiaoncsiannnnannvans 79
POY PEA W EE, ceicccsiscerasutursetaatarrcotiavanen 1S
Field BABY VENDOR......................05 118
RL WAL cccoarctstinas ecceeareiledavececiaveais 87
FLYING TEES siiexcriassncrtncesventceceennies 126
Garden City GEM THREE

UE a TEIN cose vs Svante aulinicrdetateoeasiows ai
As IY DUI ssiccsresisnsastoncvcosuasveess 136
GEM THREE OF A KIND................... 137
Ae | i, Se a ee 132
CADETS FOU El ccccitnnscreteetwcnssnpeev es tabisaces 128
Graham MIDGET ROULETTE. .......... 113
Great States SANDY’S HORSES ....... 135
Griswold BLACK CAT ................ccccceee 71
CTISWOIG 31 AR chincioremnmeudmamanenes 99
Groetchen DIXIE DOMINOES............ 140
Groetchen GOLD RUSH ..................00. 128
RSPOSICTICI LOAD a scuscnvesssncaancsocorvsaesaoraesins 151
Groetchen POK-O-REEL GUM

NINA ie stnepimirerina lucene 124
Groetchen ROYAL FLUSH ................ 139
GUESSING BANK. ccncesscsassessnssianasveoneass 61
GUESSING BANK, PRETTY WAITER

CSTR rec sicricnsenusancaedeuowicstanscimbeaagebantis 62
I westacpdeseenenticewiacsecieaaindoseonaih 86
PS cece niepaereiatiictaanscminanoiins 159
BEE wipschecieieindoeh canesisieg at asce he babteiuntacimaamdaaet 151
IMPROVED ROULET TE....ccsccccnsssessases 69
Jennings FAVORITE. ......0sssssessseseeares LZ
Jennings LITTLE MERCHANT.......... 129
Jennings PENNY CLUB wwvsscasascasvessenns 142
POPC Y (Ca) soi ccicrpdernevercaleceniasennitons 96
PE te Atk acennnnreaascasatessainnencneens 121
EEE, cases eas wiscptensiaiuieacesusimsaibaleaebiaaiediacencae: 144
JOKER GUM VENDOR (Daval)........ 145
JUMBO SUCCESS (Catida)).....cxsscasonne 81
JUMBO SUCCESS (Mills)................... 91
Ee hia achccae’ninmuciaeaadeneneniaouies 116
Keeney and Sons MAGIC CLOCK...... 125
Keeney SPINNER WINNER................ 147
Retey FLIP PAP icsccsverctaivcnnasonne 87
FLO NIURE CRO) issiscasonsnsecsinicnsssanevatiors 79
Da PAO) sens sn ctedncerisatevesecmmmared 103
Laberty WINS WON sissies scsscnccenarenncnss 154
1D We ae 8, ne 141
LITTLE DUCE CS iesseomneartrcecers: 80
LITTLE MERCHANT wissssesesscocasceeenesis 129
LITTLE MONTE CARLO cisiciccasouaeeasnnin 78
LITTLE POKER FACE No. 2............. 156

LI Gy acesacarestnastevatautisanianentaes 155
PS LR si csinsscneadnsantarceomsiceanns 125
McLoughlin GUESSING BANK ........... 61
McLoughlin PRETTY WAITER GIRL

GUESSING BANK. sscsssscssccoresasssesess 62
MIDGET ROULETTE

(ATlAaSICSTANAIN) casiscsisenncscecncscvevetocsns 113
Dailis LAC IAC sscsscacsserceniavstersaves 131
Mills CRAP SHOOTER. cccosasiessscaneeeven 106
Mills JUMBO SUCCESS .................s000 91
DUS LITTLE DUBE vaisesscsscssieomentsoos 80
Mills LITTLE MONTE CARLUO........... 78
MAUS PURTIAN BELA wcsccisscavsntsasscrane 109
IVES, SUT cases os ta sciscitien navdecievara guaceaws 90
Monarch PEE-WEE ROULETTE. ....... 115
MONTE CARLO, LIT TILE sassssvsscnccwssnns 78
National LITTLE MONTE CARLO ..... 78
National SMO BS ui ciccssosecccesscsesssesvens 134
National TARGET PRACTICE............ 110
BEE Fe vervanenseenananinwhanaanicin 65
OFFICIAL SWEEPSTAKES ......0...:... 123
Page SALES INCREASER ................. 107
Pana Enterprise NEW IMPROVED

PAIRES CW PIE bs cis cisisitscasiideantncss 104
Pe BR isc casecxecectcv ccncceaetseesnsnies 95
PEE-WEE ROULE STE. eiiscsessvaseervsonees is
PY CID wi ceccrrcucraroasencinrcesaveinerss 142
PENNY DRAW sssicsccrieinvsstexiaiacmnanns 127
PENNY PACK, 1940 DIVIDER......... 153
PERFECTION (DH). ciccccsescscavasavscens 101
PERFECTION, THE (Comstock).......... 76
ag AEF ce 2 Se , Se OPO 149
PIA BALL jecencimmtinticniumueneisavcs 114
PLAY WRELE eddkinameisasesnwans 160
Play-Write PLAY WRITE. .ssesscssesosscss 160
POK-O-REEL GUM VENDOR.......... 124
PRETTY WAITER GIRL GUESSING

BP aisevceclscssccacoanienricrcbindanioues 62
Progressive WIZARD CLOCK ............. 98
PG Ul wascihccsnconsenstaiedcaslasseieieninaaseaweaiannitt 138
PURITAN BELL, (MiS) csssssasecssnavonens 109
PURITAN BABY VENDOR

CCI) ccscees estoausd setiidnecninoeonamaskianianah 117
Quality Supply HORSES... 159
ATU VES 0 EE cacevesustisancuvescian shotiautexanseneies 88
FOE HE TED escrsrsrmeasivivtpeaaseecortnependanane 95
Rock-ola OFFICIAL SWEEP-

SS LUA ISS dence ceqaclsonsacnssticasuaaesadienaceedes 123
ROULETTE, IMPROVED .......00ccc..0s00 69
PUT Chews osstemnctinetieieiemtreaentis 105
BRE Pils FLAT vcsisa vir ceasiensasusentntetates 139
ROYAL JUMBO wsssvivncsnensasasiwrcnaniaunaines 89
F.A. Ruff CRAPSHOOTERS

TA Ss csssntotinnvcneesviazitniincioienteas 85
SALES INCREASER .. .s:cssssccssssesessesess 107
SAID Y Se HORSES ccpeincnsnscnssainavavicdswnas 135
Sanders DEUCES WILD ..........csesssesees 148
Sanders LITTLE POKER FACE

Ps 2 vcd ile ic acces esac essen alee 156
panders LUCKY PACK ssssssssessswrnvannss 155
SARATOGA SWEEPSTAKEG........... 119
TASERAND (Bradley) ssscasiicacascvonsnnaewannes 158
SEVEN GRAND (Withey)...............64 146
SSIPIIAM SUN AET sccesicesaaneenstuovanctostensnes 1S]
Siersdorfer COIN TARGET BANK....... 70

SLOT MACHINE (Weston) .....:-ssee-00++- 63

10
oS) «2, a cr ne tet een cere 134
LLIN AL wansumncoadesinencouetonenindis 157
SF UN NER. WISNER isoissnncuaswoinondxrceesd 147
Pee TORTIE OO isccrarotrascenncutinuanteitenen ives 99
SIAR ADVERTISER, sccscscsiscsncseasresceess y ge:
STAR AMERICAN EAGLE................ 150
Star STAR TRADE REGISTER ........... 93
STAR TRADE REGISTER .c..cssccnunsoneress 93
Stephens PENNY DRAW...........:00....0+. 127
DIOCK FLYING HEEUS waiecsssscscversaveves 126
Sy CIGAR venscncicrneseonmeennnsnenentice 84
SCL CVEUIG \ wie cpeccusetsencevecteta cues 90
BERG aidetiaiavenasidaveonaaratianeees 111
TARGET PRACTICE (National)........ 110
THREE OF A BIND, GEM vs oscasaessssnes 137
TENS UENE™ inion’ dectiue telareasasaloaansarutedae ncounentaotaehcae 136
DVIS WAP sccredaeisiicaeacsiadnn 154
Unit Sales WINNER DICE.................. 108
LS. INOVEltyY WINNER is ietsccrsceseieaconesenns 67
Waddel DISCOUNT BICYCLE

TY FE 1 bas nnd pe patn nds oceania vexencuunics 74
Wain & Bryant ZODIAC.....................0 92
Watling DRAW POKER .................. 102
Western Automatic IMPROVED

2 | 1 WS ial iy Senet nee 69
Western Weighing NICKEL

Pe dee led Ss te Ser patel ue Pa nance 65
Weston SLOT MACHINE. cs sssessssvsns veans 63
WIN =AsOMOR © osincixscitexenetasacivinandvenss 130
Winchester GUESSING BANK ............ 61
TPN A ILS IN 2s oa acannon elau a geaeinweaeenenite 67
WINNER DICE (Unit Sales) scsccssinccens 108
Withey SEVEN GRAND..................005 146
VUE SD CR hres Sodescataveschnwanswnnanes 98
Whiegley’s DICE MACHINE... ccissessenn 100
World’s Fair COLUMBIAN FORTUNE

TNE scettcclesouieesntdiienedbuiebacmiuntekesian 64

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

THE 100 MACHINES

Foreword to revised edition

If you have an original copy of An Illustrated Price Guide to the 100 Most Collectible Trade
Stimulators, Volume 2, just look back and compare it to this revised edition. You will quickly be
aware of many of the changes made in Trade 2. It will take serious (and enjoyable!) reading to
comprehend all of them, starting with the manufacturers information and new updated machine
photos. Some of the manufacturers headings have changed due to the finding of original literature.
A few of the machines now have different names because of recently found production informa-
tion. Many of the photos have been changed because those in the original volume, although the
best to be had at the time, were sometimes wrong or had missing parts, particularly in the area of
reward cards and marquees. Everything shown in this new revised edition is, to the best of the
combined knowledge of a panel of collectors and enthusiasts, correct at the time of printing. Hope-
fully, no more errors will be revealed in the future.

You must also note that there are other variations of many of the machines shown in Trade 2.
So if you have one that is a little different in your own collection, it is not that one or the other is
wrong. You probably just have a variation. Most of the variations of previously shown machines
will be covered in future volumes. One thing that Dick Bueschel and I constantly hear from collec-
tors is, “I have a rare machine that isn’t in any of the books.” This is very possible, although it is
more likely that you have yet another basic model that has not yet been described. There were liter-
ally thousands of different trade stimulators and counter games produced over the years and it will
take many volumes to cover them all.

A good example of this is shown on the tabular pages of this volume at the back of the book
listing all of the known trade stimulator manufacturers and the machines they produced from 1870
to 1919. This list totally “blew my mind” when Dick first sent it to me. As long as I have been
studying these machines, it certainly opened my eyes. This list is the result of over 20 years of hard
and deep digging by Dick Bueschel. And just wait until you see the the even larger list of counter
games produced between 1920 and the 1980s that Dick is including in the revised and upgraded
edition of Trade /.

There is also the possibility that more information may turn up in the future. It will surely be
covered in later volumes of this trade stimulator and counter game series of books. So whenever
you talk to Dick on the phone or see him at the shows or auctions, make sure you show your appre-
ciation for all of his hard labor as well as that of his research and pricing panel. They have kept this
hobby together as it survives today and will be sustained in the future.

Best of luck, and good reading.
Bill Whelan

Daly City, California

October 21, 1991

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

THE 100 MACHINES

Introducing the enhanced edition of Trade 2

Trade stimulator and counter game
collectors are not necessarily clairvoyant.
The reverse is true. They are always look-
ing backward, trying to figure out where
and why a vintage machine might be hid-
ing while they constantly search for cor-
roborating paper and advertising materials
describing machines that have not been on
public location for half a century or more.
Looking backward is a virtue and a
strength. In spite of this , when the first
edition of An Illustrated Price Guide to the
100 Most Collectible Trade Stimulators,
Volume 2 was presented to the market
early in 1981, the forward editorial section
closed with the comments “If you get out
there now and hustle for machines, make
original finds in basements and back
rooms, buy cheap and trade up, you’! soon
have a collection worthy of admiration by
all. Many of the dedicated collectors feel
that in a decade most of the undiscovered

JO ioe

machines will have been found, making
the trade stimulator and counter game field
a seller’s market. That means you’ve only
got to 1990 to put yourself on the right
side of the hottest coin machine collectible
in the country. So don’t waste a minute.
Gas up and go!”

It is my hope as the author that you
got the original edition back in 1981, and
did exactly what was suggested. For much
of what was said has come true. Original
finds were still being made right and left in
the early 1980s and throughout the decade,
but then the machines got harder and hard-
er to find. Many of the current crop of
trade stimulator and counter game collec-
tors have never seen a machine outside of
an antique shop, show or dealer ad, and
have built up their collections that way. So
it indeed has become somewhat of a sell-
er’s market. And, likewise, anyone who
started seriously collecting ten years be-

fore the publication of this revised edition
of Illustrated Guide To Collectible Trade
Stimulators, Volume 2 (note the subtile
name change, and the elimination of that
nagging and misleading “100 Most’ title)
have probably built up collections that
draw admiration from even the most
sophisticated collectors.

But that doesn’t mean the ball game is
over. Not by a long shot. As I poke this out
on my Mac SE/30 I am reminded of a tele-
phone call I received earlier in the day.
Someone had just found an old coin drop
at a yard sale, and did I know what it was?
As for myself, I am planning on a trip to
Streater, Illinois, to try and track down an
elusive non-coin trade stimulator maker
from the early 1900s (take a look at the
maker’s name, machine and date list in
this revised volume and you’ll see exactly
what I am talking about). I did the same
thing earlier in the year and tracked down

The crew at St. Louis Slot Machine Company with a selection of old trade stimulators. Left to right are Tom Kolbrener, manager; Jeff
Frahm, marketing; Marty Wilke and Jeff “Doc” Statler in service. Jeff undertook the first revised pricing for the original edition of
Trade 2 in time for the November 1985 ChicagoLand Show. Both Tom and Jeff assisted the current edition pricing panel. St. Louis Slot

Machine Company.

the manufacturing facility for the original
bartop ROULETTE and IMPROVED
ROULETTE of the Mansfield Brass
Foundry in the Mansfield Public Library in
Mansfield, Ohio, finally dating the
machines at 1893. I trekked over to the old
factory site, to see that a city had grown up
in its place. So no machines there. But
maybe next time and the next search. For
there is still much to be found.

Making This A Finders Book

When the alert came out in May of
1990 that the first edition of Trade 2 was
in short supply and the original film and
keylines were lost so that the book could
not be reprinted (unless a “dirty” reprint
job was done from a copy of the book, and
that idea was immediately rejected as a rip
off), I began to plan for an updated and
revised edition. Luckily, I had kept a file
of the original book materials both before
and — importantly — after the book came
out. That meant that the photographs and
artwork hadn’t been dispersed across the
collector world and were largely intact,
ready for reuse and reshooting for clarity
of reproduction. It also meant that any
comments and criticisms of the original
book were in the file. And some of them
were burners. One letter, dated about 30
days after the original book was placed on
sale in February 1981, came from fellow
collector Bill Whelan in Daly City, Cali-
fornia. The words weren’t exactly a paean
of encouragement. Commenting on the
depiction of the Groetchen ROYAL
FLUSH in the book, Bill said,“Boy! Did
you goof up here! (you’ll see why later),”
all but demanding that if I ever did another
book on counter games and the like he
should proof read it first. I took his advice
with this revision, and will do so with any
future books on the subject.

But there was his letter, in the file.
Along with others that praised me to the
skies and other places, saying what a great
book it was. So we had the good and the
bad, the encouraging and the correcting. In
effect, the bed rock of a re-do. But I also
knew that I wanted to make it as much a
“finders” book as the original edition. I
pondered that one deeply, thinking about
what could be done right now in this diffi-
cult finders market to help people search
out old machines with a smattering of
knowledge that could lead them in the
right directions.

I hit on a lulu of an idea. For a dozen
or more years I have been collecting files
of names and games, pairing them with the
makers. All of this is kept in large note-
books. I asked myself, ‘““What would hap-
pen if I shared this information with every-
body?” But it would take more than lists
alone to make a revised edition of Trade 2
valuable to the collectors. So I set to work
to determine an editorial stance for the
updated volume. Two volumes, actually.
Both original editions of the Trade ] and

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Trade 2 trade stim-
ulator and counter
game books were at
285 copies each on
May 3, 1990, with
the rate of sales
expected to finish
them up in little
Over a year. What
happened was that
Trade 2 ran out
first, with the book
sold out on April
17, 1991 while only
70 copies remained
for Trade 1. So two
updated revisions
would be needed
close to the same
time. My decision
was to split the cov-
erage, making
Trade 2 more of a
trade stimulators
book while Trade 1
would be re-done
primarily as a coun-
ter game _ book,
while both volumes
retained the 100
machines covering

both collectible
areas.
With that

thought the race
was on. I would say
that the single most
important addition
to Trade 2 is the list
of well over 1,000
trade stimulators of
the 1870-1919 peri-
od arranged by
maker’s name, ma-
chine name, description and date that
appears at the back of this volume. There
are literally hundreds of machines listed
here that have never been found, but with
knowledge of the city, state and date per-
haps you can be the collector that makes
the score. The list has been checked and
double checked by the experts, with lead-
ing trade stimulator collector Tom Gust-
willer and counter game guru Bill Whelan
both going over the list very carefully (as
you can well imagine!) to add what they
knew, and comment on the other listings.
No, it doesn’t give them a head start,
because you can only do so much with
your time. Maybe a slight lead, but that’s
only time enough for them to track down a
name or two. And this trade stimulator list
has hundreds! We are going to do the same
thing with the re-do of Trade 1, which will
contain a listing of over 1,400 different
counter games for the 1920-1990 period.
In all, we will have 2,500 or so machines
to track down, probably more than dou-
bling the known inventory of games and
names.

Gustwiller.

a PPP GNe Ny

Deas

Pride of place and piece. Pricing panel member Tom Gustwiller
of Ottawa, Ohio, shows off a prime piece in his outstanding col-
lection, the Mills I WILL dice machine. At right along the wall is
a Canda JUMBO GIANT. Gustwiller’s trade stimulator collection
is regarded as possibly the finest in the world. Photography Tom

I would ask that you, as a trade stimu-
lator and counter game collector and find-
er, please keep me up to date and let me
know if any of these machines have been
found, or add what you can to the list. I
have put my name and address at the end
of this new forward so you can contact me.
This will enable me to update the list and
make additions and corrections to be
played back in future volumes of this
series of historical collector books. The
fact is that even this list, as complete as it
appears to be, is only a compilation of
what has been found on terms of machines
and data. True, the search has been aggres-
sive over the past decade, and will contin-
ue in the same mode. But it will take a lot
of enthusiasts to fill out this list and make
it grow. So consider it a beginning tabula-
tion of the more popular machines in their
time frame.

A Significant Upgrade — Clarifying the
Classifications

What is a trade stimulator? It would
seem that the question is an academic one,

for didn’t the original volume 1 and vol-
ume 2 editions of An Illustrated Price
Guide To The 100 Most Collectible Trade
Stimulators resolve that in 1978 and 1981?
Not quite, it seems, for some of the early
classification judgements made in the first
flush of vintage coin machine collectibility
in the nineteen sixties, seventies and eight-
ies remain open for revisionist interpreta-
tion. Suspicious, but not glaring, were the
single reel and other token payouts based
on the landmark Paupa And Hochriem
ELK of 1904, with their positioning as
automatic payout slot machines based on
their revolutionary slide payout systems. It
just seemed to be too much machinery for
a simple trade stimulator. So they were
classified as slots. The Mills Novelty
CHECK BOY, by example, was promoted
as the “Miniature Dewey” when it first
came out, clearly suggesting a slot
machine connection. As a result of this
Classification these sophisticated token
payout devices were included in three of
the An Illustrated Price Guide to the 100
Most Collectible Slot Machines volumes,
as follows:

Machine, Date and Publication

Paupa And Hochriem ELK

1905-1907

Slots 1, Vol. 1, page 34

(Revised Slots 1, page 87)

Mills PILOT

1906-1916

Slots 1, Vol. 1, page 35
(Revised Slots ], page 88)

Mills CHECK BOY
1907-1916

Slots 1, Vol. 1, page 36
(Revised Slots 1, page 89)

Mills SCARAB
1914-1916
Slots 2, Vol. 2, page 78

Caille BASE-BALL
1911-1917
Slots 3, Vol. 3, page 61

But the level of machine sophistica-
tion of itself is a poor indicator of purpose,
for these machines were made for small
businesses and provided a high degree of
control over the trade and merchandise
awards right down to the point of provid-
ing tokens with the store’s own name,
thereby preventing misuse of the tokens.
Re-analysis of the location placement and
payout formats led to a reevaluation of
their status, with the case for re-classifica-
tion most persuasively presented by collec-
tor Bill Whelan, who made the recommen-
dation during the process of checking each
and every page of the original edition of
Trade 2 in preparation for this revised edi-
tion.

States Bill, “Regarding the semi-pay-
out machines controversy, if they are not

THE 100 MACHINES

placed with the trade stimulators we may
be forced to contrive a new category. I do
not believe this is necessary as they clearly
meet the criteria of true trade stimulators.
From my point of view all (strictly) token
pay machines have to be kept in the same
classification, from the first ones, such as
the 1904 Paupa And Hochriem ELK, to
the last ones, such as the 1940-1952 Daval
AMERICAN EAGLE. They made their
payouts in dedicated trade tokens and not
in cash. The use of these tokens makes this
class of machines true trade stimulators.
Not only that, they could never have been
played for cash payouts. There are no U.S.
coins that I know of that fit any of the
token payouts in these counter machines.
Oh, there are exceptions, but they are not
valid ones. A worn quarter will work in the
token tubes of the Daval AMERICAN
EAGLE, Comet COMET, Groetchen
MERCURY, SPARKS or GINGER, as
well as a few others. But that is only now,
and something that the collectors do. They
wouldn’t have made that a machine feature
in the 1930s. When these games were first
made their payouts were restricted to dis-
tinctive tokens. Examples are the Jennings
GRANDSTAND and PENNY CLUB.
These are automatic token pay machines
with a token much smaller that the U.S.
dime. If these machines are accepted as
trade stimulators and counter games, so
should all the others.

One of the inconsistencies here is that
the older cast iron single reel trade stimu-
lators were classified with the cash pay-
outs years ago because their values ran
into the universe. But I think a machine is
worth a certain price because of its fea-
tures, looks and availability rather than its

operational usage. Example: take a Mills
UMPIRE or SCARAB, both very ornate
machines and much sought after by many
a collector. The prices that these machines
demand are not going to change no matter
how they are classified. Take the Caille
BUSY BEE, Caille BON-TON or the
Wayne And Bryant ZODIAC as another
example. Their prices are way up there in
the same ball park as token pay machines,
so that is just another reason why they
should be classified in the same category.”

Whelan’s logic is irrefutable, so the
single reel token payouts, and others of the
same ilk, have been so reclassified for this
upgraded volume. As such they are includ-
ed in the extensive trade stimulator lists.
Machines that could be run either way —
either with trade tokens, or with cash —
have remained in the automatic payout slot
machine category. Such machines, such as
the Watling CHECK BOY of 1910, which
was advertised are quickly convertible
from token to cash payout, and numerous
others that were promoted in the same
manner, will still be found among the slot
machine listings. But from this point for-
ward, the purely trade machines with
uniquely sized dedicated tokens are now
Classified as trade stimulators.

Upgrading The Pricing

There is another upgrade that is just
about of equal importance t6-collectors,
pickers and dealers, and that is pricing.
The original prices in the 1981 edition of
this book held up well, for almost half a
dozen years. But new finds, greater knowl-
edge and rising interest in trade stimulators
and counter games led to both rises and
slides in the past 4 or 5 years, so that the

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Pricing panel member Jack Freund of Springfield, Wisconsin, sits with a table full of six
spiral, spinner, wheel and coin drop “Woodies” from the late 19th and early 20th centu-
ry. Such machines are rare and hard to find, but they are found. Photography Jack
Freund.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

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Camera shy, hard working counter machine guru Bill Whelan of Daly City, California
has done much to popularize trade stimulators and counter games. Perhaps the most
knowledgeable person on the subject, Bill has served as consultant, data, photo source
and pricing panel member on this revised edition of Trade 2. Among the rare trade stimu-
lators in his collection are THE COMBINATION pyramid, top center; C.T. Maley AUTO-
MATIC DICE, top right; and the GOOD LUCK poker dice, lower left. Photography Bill

Whelan.

pricing has been considerably altered for a
majority of the machines. The first crack at
a revisionist repricing was undertaken by
Jeff Frahm of the St. Louis Slot Machine
Company for former Coin Slot Books pub-
lisher Bill Harris in the fall of 1985. Jeff
repriced the complete series of Coin Slot
Books price guides, upgrading the num-
bers for the three volumes of slot machines
and the two for trade stimulators and
counter games. Issued as The Coin Slot
Official Price Guide Update for the Illus-
trated Guides to Slot Machines Volume 1I-
Volume 2-Volume 3 and the Trade Stimu-
lators Volume 1-Volume 2 (which name
alone just about took up the front cover)
the 16-page price guide was available at
the November 1985 ChicagoLand vintage
coin machine show.

Another price guide covering the
same five books was introduced at the
same November 1985 ChicagoLand Show,
issued by vintage coin machine dealers
Alan Sax and Larry Lubliner, the pricing
authority for the original volume, with
your author’s permission (which is why
Bill Harris called his “The Coin Slot Guide
Official...”). The two competing pricing
guides were as different as night and day,
with the Sax/Lubliner version based on
“buying” prices for dealers while Jeff
Frahm’s were based on dealer selling
prices, with the reality somewhere in the
middle. In effect, these are the price guides
that have been used for the past few years
prior to the appearance of this revised edi-

tion of Trade 2. What they did accomplish
was point up the fact that things had
changed, which had to be considered in
any future updating of the books.

With that in mind, and with the expe-
rience of pricing panels for the Pinball ]
and Arcade I books providing successful
models, a panel of eight vintage trade
stimulator and counter game collectors,
historians and dealers was assembled for
this upgraded version of the volume 2
trade stimulator and counter game book
with the understanding that the same panel
would also serve for an upgraded version
of volume | as well as for future volumes
in the series. The resulting prices and esti-
mated values have been augmented by
data on actual dollar transactions between
collectors and dealers as well as open auc-
tion prices paid up to the date of pricing
where such data is available. The panel of
eight was selected to provide as much
rational pricing input as practically possi-
ble and to provide an equalizer for prices
that may inadvertently be based on biased
judgements and over-or-under enthusiastic
estimates. In addition, the panel members
represent the major trade stimulator and
counter game collecting areas of the coun-
try in order to balance local value irregu-
larities.

The pricing panel is made up of the
following members:

Ken Durham, Washington, DC

Tom Gustwiller, Ottawa, OH

Larry Lubliner, Highland Park, IL

Alan Sax, Long Grove, IL

Dick Bueschel, Mt. Prospect, IL

Jack Freund, Springfield, WI

Jeff Frahm, St. Louis, MO

Bill Whelan, Daly City, CA

Each member of the pricing panel
brings broad spectrum knowledge to bear
on the evaluation of trade stimulators and
counter games within their specific area of
expertise. As such, each pricing authority
therefore contributes both strengths and
weaknesses to the assignment, the latter
tempered by the knowledge of the other
members of the panel. Final pricing was
assembled by the author primarily based
on overall averages on the inputs provided.

Time, Tide And Literature

Other things changed, and that was
the world. By January 1986 Coin Slot
Books had been bought out by Hoflin Pub-
lishing Ltd. in Wheat Ridge, Colorado,
with significant changes in publishing phi-
losophy. Where the original Coin Slot
Books were designed to provide as much
information as rapidly and economically as
possible, resulting in fast turnaround
black-and-white books at modest cost by
vintage coin-op enthusiasts and neophyte
publishers Bill and Rosanna Harris, Hoflin
Publishing Ltd. is a dedicated book pub-
lisher concerned with content, expressed in
better papers and binding. The Hoflin vin-
tage coin machine books are also bigger
books, with a greater depth of research and
illustration material. The decision to go for
an enhanced product has been borne out by
the critical and sales success of Pinball /,
the recently upgraded Slots ], the upcom-
ing volume Arcade / and the first volume
in Bueschel’s Saloon Series, all by your
present author. So now it is time to apply
the advantages of an expanded book to the
trade stimulator and counter game books,
Trade 2 being first, with Trade ] to come
soon behind it.

With that in mind, a few years back I
started a file of critical and praising com-
ments of the original editions of the trade
stimulator and counter game books and
tossed in an assemblage of original adver-
tising and sales promotional material that I
had been collecting for use in one way or
another, final status unknown. When the
need to upgrade the two volumes at almost
the same time became known, it also set-
tled the question of how to use this origi-
nal printed material. Easy! Just follow the
maker’s lists. Trade 2 will have the adver-
tising for old trade stimulators while Trade
1 will have the same coverage for the later
counter games. That makes these presenta-
tions truly unique, for nowhere else to my
knowledge is there a collection of the orig-
inal documents that introduced and sold
these machines. The literature is, in effect,
the software of coin machine marketing
whereas the machines are the hardware.
Strangely, the paper is rarer than the
machines they depict. It is also a way to

find new and unfound machines. You will
find a truly amazing collection of this vin-
tage paper in both volumes with the value
of the paper itself as often as not outdis-
tancing the value of the machines they pro-
mote. I must say that finding the paper is
generally more difficult than finding the
machines. It is another aspect of my col-
lecting that I am most pleased to share
with readers. And if you find some more,
let me know or, better yet, send me copies.
The physical changes in the past
decade have also conspired to make
machine finding more difficult. In the orig-
inal Trade 2 mention was made of the
finding of a Groetchen PIKE’S PEAK in
the basement of an old shop in the honky
tonk row on South State Street in Chicago.
Well, that shop is long gone. So is my
friend Frieda Fenster. In its place is the
massive new block long Harold Washing-
ton Library, the latest jewel in Chicago’s
civic crown. My feeling is one of ambiva-
lence. The new main downtown Chicago
Public Library will finally bring out all of
its papers and directories, much of it inac-
cessible in buried files for years. That
should make local research easier and
more rewarding. But that old vintage row
of buildings (one of them held the Mills
WonderLand penny arcade in the early
1900s, and the arched front was still on the
building) fell under the wrecker’s ball.
Sad, but progress. As collectors we have
both gained and lost. Much the same thing
is happening in other American cities and
towns. So the basements we should be
popping for old coin machines are getting
filled or removed faster than we can get
there. That is another reason for the trade
stimulators list in this volume. Find these
places now, before they are all gone.

Updates, Errors And Other Changes

All of the aforementioned considera-
tions are based on a static update of an
existing book, plus some useful and inter-
esting additions. But the reality of this
revised Trade 2 volume is far different, for
added research, new machine finds and the
Clarification of errors has rewritten the
book from cover to cover. Every word and
illustration in the original has been brought
under careful scrutiny, and the result
shows up in considerable change. The pri-
mary alteration has been one of pictures,
with larger images and, where advisable,
improved and more descriptive images
replacing the originals. Every halftone in
this revised volume has been reshot from
original reflective art for the best possible
reproduction, with many of the pho-
tographs new to this edition.

Then there are the corrections. I earli-
er quoted a letter from Bill Whelan, which
I will now continue to explain his reason-
ing. Bill’s full comments about the
Groetchen ROYAL FLUSH were “Boy!
Did you goof up here! This machine does
not have 10 reels. Only 5. It’s just that the

THE 100 MACHINES

window area is long enough to see one of
two symbols, whichever way the shutter is
positioned.” And there it was, a true goof!
But a subtile one, for that fact was never
mentioned in the machine’s sales literature
or advertising. You have to own one of
these things to know what is going on.
Needless to say, the ROYAL FLUSH copy
has been completely rewritten.

But it is not alone. Major rewrites
have been made for many of the machines
in the book, specifically for the Amuse-
ment Machine COMBINATION “JACK
POT,” Canda AUTOMATIC CARD
MACHINE, Kelley FLIP FLAP, Dunn
PERFECTION, Groetchen ROYAL
FLUSH and Groetchen DIXIE DOMI-
NOES. In addition, approximately half of
the machines have had their copy edited in
One manner or another to bring their sto-
ries up to date.

In addition to copy changes, there
have been changes in dating, with the 100
machines copy rearranged to correctly
place the Canda BONANZA, Canda
AUTOMATIC CARD MACHINE, Caille
JOCKEY, Caille JUNIOR BELL, H. C.
Evans SARATOGA SWEEPSTAKES,
Stephens PENNY DRAW, Daval BELL
SLIDE and Shipman SPIN-IT.

If some of these names seem a little
strange it’s because some of the machine
names have changed, too.

McLoughlin SALOON GIRL became
PRETTY WAITER GIRL

Amusement Machine PERFECT
CIGAR became COMBINATION “JACK
POT”

Kelley LOOP THE LOOP became
FLIP FLAP

Dunn MARBLE MATCH became
PERFECTION

Mills PURITAN became PURITAN
BELL

Garden City THREE OF A KIND
became GEM THREE OF A KIND

Machine finds, new data and original
literature revealed the correct names of
machines that were originally and
unknowingly misidentified. In that, it’s
great that we have been given a second
chance to straighten out the story. Names
were even corrected in the editorial sec-
tion, with the Wedesweiler DICE-BOX of
the original edition edited to the M. E.
Moore DICE-BOX based on the nameplate
on an example in the Bill Whelan collec-
tion, unknown and as yet unfound at the
time of the first edition in 1981.

Confirmation was even made of the
earlier misidentification of what is perhaps
the most controversial trade stimulator
ever made, that being the McLoughlin
PRETTY WAITER GIRL of around 1880.
In the original Trade 2 volume we quoted
a April 1972 article in HOBBIES question-
ing its original identification as a cast iron
toy bank. Writer F. H. Griffith suggested
that “The woman’s figure would seem a

little questionable with respect to being a
child’s toy saving device,” a view with
which we are in complete agreement. We
subsequently discovered that this opinion
was not advanced at the time of the dis-
covery of the piece at least ten years earli-
er. The same Mr. Griffith, writing in the
October 1961 issue of HOBBIES, stated:
“A second type GUESSING BANK
has turned up and the action is the same as
that of the conventional GUESSING BANK
which is the figure of a man sitting astride
a chair. The second type has the figure of
what looks like a Gay 90s woman standing
beside a section containing a coin chute
and a dial with a revolving pointer. A coin
is dropped in the provided slot at the top of
this section and the weight of the falling
coin causes the pointer to spin on the dial.
The dial is numbered and if the depositor
guesses the number at which the pointer
stops he is entitled to withdraw the amount
of the coins indicated. Otherwise the bank
retains all coins. The name GUESSING
BANK appears on the front of the bank
and is made of a metal similar to that of
the conventional GUESSING BANK. This,
to the best of the writer’s knowledge, is
another new find in a mechanical bank.”
Indeed. But doesn’t the fact that the

“depositor... is entitled to withdraw the
amount of the coins indicated” on the
wheel suggest a chance machine? It sure
does to me. Had the collecting of coin
machines and trade stimulators been active
at the time of this error in identification the
mistake would never have been made. But
in 1961 coin machine collecting was all
but unknown, with the hobby not building
up a full head of steam until the 1970s. So
we have moved forward, and our books
and researches have contributed to the
pool of knowledge. But it does want to
make you find every cast iron bank collec-
tor in the country to take a look-see to find
out if they have some trade stimulators that
most of us have never heard of. That’s the
next search, and once again I’ll suggest a
decade to find what needs to be found.
There’s more out there. Somebody, some-
where, finds something every year. Maybe
every month, or week. The opportunities
haven’t ended, and now we are all armed
with an even greater inventory of knowl-
edge. So gas up, and get out there and
make New Year’s Day of the year 2000
the date your collection becomes world
class.

Richard M. Bueschel

414 N. Prospect Manor Avenue

Mt. Prospect, IL 60056-2046

1-708-253-0791

FAX: 1-708-253-0791

(Ask for FAX)

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Assembled to provide a updated pric-
ing panel, a number of the eight pricing
authorities went far beyond these duties.
While all reviewed their prior figures or
established new pricing points, four of the
panel members were very influential in the
complete upgrade and rewrite of the edito-
rial sections of this revised version of
Trade 2. Foremost among this group was
Bill Whelan who reviewed the original
edition word for word and picture by pic-
ture, contributing much in the way of
rewrite requirements as well as a substan-
tial number of new photographs that were
required to clearly identify the specific
machines and models. Ken Durham added
contributions to the counter game descrip-
tions, while collector Tom Gustwiller and
collector-dealer Jack Freund provided
backgrounding and photography for some
of the exceedingly rare trade stimulators of
the late 19th century and early 20th centu-
ry that could have been obtained from no
other source. Rather than a simple revision
by its author, this volume is a credit to the
dedication and giving nature of this group
of dedicated trade stimulator and counter
game collectors that believe in sharing
their experience and knowledge for the
common good.

All of the panel members have a con-
tinuing interest in the trade stimulator and
counter game field and can be contacted in
regard to their specific areas of expertise,
as follows:

THE 100 MACHINES

A Working Panel

Ken Durham

909 26 Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20037
Tel.: 202-338-1342

Ken edits and publishes a bimonthly
newsletter for counter game enthusiasts.
Annual cost for 10 issues is $24, or $5 for
a sample issue. Ken also edits the
ChicagoLand Gazette, four issues for $10,
sample $5. He will answer any questions
about counter games if you send him a
photograph and an SASE.

Tom Gustwiller
116 W. Main Street
Ottawa, OH 45875
Tel.: 419-523-6395

Tom has one of the largest (if not the
largest) collection of elegant 19th century
and early 20th century trade stimulators in
the world, and is constantly on the lookout
for machines he does not yet have.

Larry Lubliner

737 Barberry Road
Highland Park, IL 60035
Tel.: 708-831-1102

The original pricing authority for
Trade | at the time of its publication in
1981, Larry deals in vintage coin
machines, unique antiques and theme
restaurant decor through his ReFinders
organization.

Alan Sax

3239 RFD

Long Grove, IL 60047
Tel.: 708-438-5900

As one of the largest vintage coin
machine dealers in the United States, Alan
Sax brings a rare insight into current pric-
ing based on his machine volume turnover
and experience.

Dick Bueschel

414 N. Prospect Manor Avenue
Mt. Prospect, IL 60056

Tel.: 708-253-0791

Vintage coin machine historian and
writer, and author of this volume. Is very
interested in new trade stimulator and
counter game finds as well as original lit-
erature. Would appreciate your sending
machine photos and copies of literature so
that the progress of these finds can be cata-
loged and utilized in future volumes in this
series.

Jack Freund
P.O. Box 4
Springfield, WI 53176

Tel.: 414-642-3655

Ardent collector of vintage 19th cen-
tury trade stimulators and a dealer in all
forms of coin machines, from counter
games through vending and automatic pay-
out slot machines, Jack’s insights into dat-
ing and pricing were important in this vol-
ume.

Tom Kolbrener and Jeff Frahm
St. Louis Slot Machine Company
2111 S. Brentwood Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63144

Tel.: 314-961-4612

Major dealers in vintage slot
machines, trade stimulators, counter
games, vending and arcade machines and
the like. Their expansive experience and
turnover makes their contributions to the
pricing contributions to this volume
invaluable.

Bill Whelan

23 Palmdale Avenue
Daly City, CA 94015
Tel.: 415-756-1189

Quite possibly the premier counter
game collector and historian in the Ameri-
cas, Bill is also recognized for his machine
restorations through his Slot Dynasty Coin
Machine Restorations. Bill specializes in
uprights, early cast iron machines, trade
stimulators and color wheel painting. He
also offers the largest selection of restora-
tion award cards and reel strips for trade
stimulators and counter games. Reproduc-
tion paper is available for most of the
machines in this book. Bill can provide
over a hundred variations of reel strips and
260 different award and instruction cards,
with more coming. Write for a catalog,
enclosing a 3-stamp legal size SASE enve-
lope. Write to: Bill Whelan, P.O. Box 617,
Dept. B., Daly City, CA 94017. For infor-
mation about machine restoration or
repair, call 1-415-756-1189.

20 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

eas Se OAL

mee,
bo
SN

pital ee ita (a acti to
h Sent vi: es ~
Cpe pees eae

277. VICHY, — Le Jeu des Petits Chevaux.— LL. — - ae * as i aie
Both a spectator and a gaming sport, THE RACE OF MINIATURE HORSES (Le jeu des Petits Chevaux) is played by the French at
Vichy in the early 1900s. Gambling went along with taking the waters at the fabled spa and health springs of antiquity. The game was
further miniaturized as a table top amusement and widely exported in the late 19th century. Author’s Collection.

By the late 1880s the coin
operated race game was a
bartop standard. Cus-
tomers placed side bets, or
bet against the house. This
is the 5¢ play Rothschild
AUTOMATIC RACE
TRACK offered in the 1889
This Machine wilt Make what it Cost You the First Two Days You Have It. catalogue of R. Roth-

The Rothschild Automatic Race Track. Deas OP ie

IO wIl Pay for Moet, Itwill Give a Steady Inconie, It will Increase Trade. probably made for them by
Four Untries, alt Starters. and Run on the Square. a private label producer.

DROP A NICKEL IN THE SLOT AND SEE THE ROTHSCHILD DERBY RUNNING RACE. = Author's Collection.

PRICE. $20.00.

Se,
re
a
:
en
aa
ge
Ws
“>

Tre Pusecen Musevurz
(‘S§709S3 ANwy 99 No.
Lynn wooo ASH .

When the West was wild! The private Pullen Museum in Lynnwood, outside of Seattle, Washington, displayed these old saloon location coin machines until the summer of 1972, when
they were sold at auction. These machines came from Alaska, originating in Skagway’s famous Pullen House hotel and “Soapy” Smith’s saloon of the Yukon Gold Rush days. Trade
stimulators are, far left and fifth from the left, Mills COMMERCIALS of 1904; center, a Wheeland PERFECTION card popper of April 1901; to its right a Drobisch STAR REGISTER
and second from the far right, a Drobisch No.5 DICE MACHINE of April 1897. Author’s Collection.

SANIHOVI OOT 3HL

22 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

New French Race Game.

15 inches square, 7 inches high.
Six horses on three coursex, numbered from 1 to 6.

No aaloon, cigar store or 1 room should be with-
out one of these wames; ahead of all others. Can be
worked on the same system ason rea! race course.
Away ahead of all the automatic games now on the
market. No waiting fur nickel to be dropped in the
slot. Makeé your own povls and commissions. All
latest improvements. nnot get out of order. ‘An
one can work it. One man cleared $60 in one night.
Send for one and convince yourself of ita money -
making powers. Securely boxed for shipment. Sent
On receipt of price, $15. Send orders with cash to

RICHARD K. FOX,
Franklin Square, New York City.

Richard K. Fox, the amusement entrepreneur and publisher of
The National Police Gazette, imported the NEW FRENCH RACE
GAME for sale to saloons, cigar store and pool rooms. Fox
claimed it was “away ahead of all the automatic games now on
the market. No waiting for the nickel to be dropped.” This ad
appeared in the April 26, 1890 issue of his publication. Author’s
Collection.

SPORTING GOODS.

—

The Excelsior Automatic

RACE TRACK

WILL GIVE YOU A STEADY INCOME FOR
A SMALL INVESTMENT.

No aal or cigar store should be without one of.
theese machines.

By droppin nickel in slot the horses go.
Everythi fair and square. e machine being so
made that the coaitian of the horses is c in
every race.

The construction being simple, makes it impossible
to get out of order.

ne hundred races can be run in an hour, and every

race means 5 cents for you, not counting profit on sale

of zg
Price, Complete, 812.00.
Send Orders to
RICHARD K. FOX,

Franklin Square, New York City.

The first of the nationally popular race games, and the forerun-
ner of the saloon location trade stimulator. The EXCELSIOR
AUTOMATIC (with the “AUTOMATIC” portion of the name
soon dropped) was made by The Excelsior Race Track Company
of Chicago. This ad is from the January 4, 1890 issue of The
National Police Gazette. Author’s Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES 23

Slot Machines, Brass Railings, Etc.

SLOT MACHINES.
We manufacture and deal in all kinds. We operate Nickel Machines,

everywhere where protection can be given. by contract or commission.
Agents or Representatives wanted everywhere.

Nickei RPAachines furnished for Fairs, etc.

WM. ROHDE MFG, CO., 120 OPERA PLACE, CINCINNATI, 0.

f.ong Distanee ’Phowe Main 1437---R.

ee eee Ses

BERNARD SICKING. |

xe’ SF OT MACHINES.

1931-1935 FREEMAN AVENUE,
PHONE WEST 838. CINCINNATI, O.

_ SLOT MACHINES, — _
SICKING MANUFACTURING CO.

MANUFACTURERS OF

Coin Operating Machines and Novelties of Kvery Description.
1931-1935 FREEMAN AVENUE.

Place out Machines on Commission or Rent, also all kinds of Repairing done.
MODELS AND PATTERNS. PHONE WEST 838.

In the beginning all coin machines, including trade stimulators, were called “slot machines.” These advertisements from the Cincinnati
city directories in the early 1900s shows some of the local producers. The poker reel Sicking CENTURY GRAND card roller, sideways
along the bottom, was introduced in 1906. Author’s Collection.

A NEW

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

IDEA! .

The Combination “Jack Pot.”
NICKELS OR CIGARS.

Just What You Have Been Waiting For.

The only ‘‘ Jack Pot’’ Machine on the Market that Gives out Cigars, Drinks, or Money.
Has all the advantages of the Three Jack Pot and None of its Disadvantages.

A Genuine Record Breaker,
It Cleared $65 in One Day.

The most fascinating of all

It is Allowed to Run where
Others would be Stopped.

By turning back the “pointer,”

which is done from the back of
Machine, you can run the Jack
Pot as high as $10.00.

The player may take his win-
nings in Nickels, Cigars or Drinks.

slot machines.

Every time a nickel falls in
the ‘*pot’’ it operates the auto-
matic dial and the ‘‘ pointer”
moves once for each nickel.

) OS ae Se Ceres £7 Toe SEE
SS SS a ee SS 3

_ The Machine

The Dial

has an automatic register which
shows how many cigars or nickels

have been given out.
It needs no watching; just
set it up, it will take care of itself.
B= 7719. PNAE It has our new ‘‘ Regulator,”
Needs no feeding, as it feeds. sete ey, BIZ e=7e— by means of which you can regu-
es a PM late the “rake off” or “percentage”

“ne to suit yourself,

shows how many cigars, drinks,
or nickels the player is entitled
to, which may be as high as $3.75
of either. *

itself automatically, which is a 54 =8iese=

great advantage. Sere ee ea es ee
Base, Size SxIz Inches.

———>

Weight, 15 Ibs.

The Nickel when dropped in the Slot will vibrate over the pins, and either fall into the Jack Pot” and
operate the ‘* pointer,” or it will fall into either one of the winning ‘* pockets.”

When the Nickel falls into either one of the winning “‘ pockets” the Player is entitled to the number of
Cigars, Drinks, or Nickels as indicated by the “‘ pointer.”

pes"It is unnecessary for us to state the earning capacity of this wonderful Machine. A sample will
convince you that it is the Best investment you ever made.

This is one of the most attractive Machines we have placed on the market, made of highly polished
quartered Oak, with Carved Mouldings and Nickel Trimmings.

All the parts are extra strong and cannot get out of order.

PRICE, $15.00 NET CASH.
Manufactured by ATLUSEMENT MACHINE CO.,

587 and 589 HUDSON STREET, NEW YORK.

N. B.—On account of the very low price we are selling these Machines at, we cannot take the risk of having any
returned at our expense, therefore all orders must be accompanied by a deposit of at least $2.00 on each Machine ordered,

to insure good faith. .
You can make remittance by Post Office or Express Money Order, or Bank Draft, or you can leave a deposit with

the Express Agent in your city, and authorize him to purchase the Machine for you.

Unknown in name and maker when the machine was first found, the identification of the Amusement Machine Company
COMBINATION “JACK POT” came after the discovery of an original 1892 advertising flyer. Pays off in cigars given
over the counter for the number indicated on the pointer once a nickel falls in one of the two pockets. Author’s Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES pss

The Mississippi river town of Madison, lowa, was a lively saloon and trade
stimulator area, both because of the river traffic and visitors to the Iowa pent-
tentiary. This is the Axt Drug Company in town, with a Caille GOOD LUCK
close to the cash register. Circa 1906. Author’s Collection.

So
ee ee
_

~ —_
Ss

The beginning of it all. McLoughlin’s GUESSING
BANK, known to toy bank collectors as the “Banker
Who Pays” or “The Man In The Chair,” is a true
trade stimulator and the first know coin-operated
chance machine. Made for saloon placement, its use
was forgotten over the years with its patent descrip-
tion as an “Improved Toy Bank” erroneously classi-
fying it as a toy bank. Photography Ken Rubin.

Perhaps the most explicit trade stimulator ever made, the Mcloughlin PRET-
TY WAITER GIRL GUESSING BANK of the 1880s is hardly a child’s toy.
Unquestionably made for saloon placement, only one known example has sur-
vived the years. The name comes from the universal saloon cognomen for bar-
maids of questionable virtue. Photography Larry Lubliner.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Automatic Vice Sphaking
i

toe machine
itself in from
will double your cigar
from the first day you

days,
sales

put it on your counter. ‘
of our Machines placed on the
cigar stand of 4

hotel 3

$ 160.00
another.
one day;
of 265 cigars,
fraction over 7 cents for each

cigar.

many showing

chines
challen

SLOT MAGHINE.7

will pay for ae
one to three !

One

prominent
n this city, received
within three weeks 5” |g
Machine, received in
$18.60 and disposed |"
thus netting 4 Ae

pceeneitecageet so Zi et

e could product —
where the Ma-

have paid for themselves in from one to three days, and
ge any one to show where any one of our Machines has

ever been placed on 4 counter for thirty consecutive day's that

has not paid tor
We turnish you

one of

another, 173

itself.

with different Reward Cards, as for instance +
Reward Cards gives the player 15 winning numbers 5
and the one We recommend, 195 which encourages

our

better play where they win.

SIZE, 13 inches high;

WEIGHT, G lbs. 3 with shipping pox, 8 lbs. Here the
PRICE, 310.00 Net Cash. nati, Ohio, promotes
origins.
THE CHAS. T. MALEY NOVELTY co. Manufact

11 inches wide.

Below: Ofi
as agents
William S. Turner Distilling Company of Cincin-

9 inches deep;

CINCINNATI O.

toh git

Ih}

WAM M lH at
‘a t rit . we AN OH y
| i Mh ASS
Mp halt Witt CORK et!
lf ‘i XK
VA OUR ==
Wa taal ==
V1 Busta \\)e===
2

placement.
irate players
solved by making
tomed bar glass.

July 1897.

——
OTT HTD

of 1893 was specifically

The problem of glass dome
when their throws didn’t pay off, was
the replacement part a standard flat bot-
Author's Collection.

ten it was hard to know who the
placed their own names on re-sold machines.

dicers made in the early 1890s, the
AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKING SLOT
made for barroom
repair, often broken

maker’s were,

THE BICYCLE with no mention of its

This version was made in the area by the Sun
uring Company of Columbus, Ohio, starting in
Author’s Collection.

t..

ull MeN Th yal

LAT

eee) Zo ow Rag t ; i)

Gawd Lary

me. PE Sad 6

TS gt BG af Oe Pg E
“ Vi; CA Sa SQ Sheil Ova le
NY BSNS Goby th: F 3

aed
w~, % Y

by aC

SIZE, 13 X 7 INCHES. WEIGHT, 8 Les.

A Perfect Miniature Roulette Wheel.

The above cut is a picture of the nickel in the slot machine. When
the nickel is placed in the slot and the handle. pressed, the wheel is
rapidly revolved which at the same time throws the ball at a high speed,
after which the ball will fall into one of the numbered holes.

THE REWARD CARD

shows what the player is entitled to—-CIGARS, DRINKS, or whatever
you choose to pay out. Ong oF THE MOST EXCITING and interesting of Slot
Machines. ;

IT IS DOUBLE FASCINATING, as it appears so easy to win. .

It is bound to tempt your customers to drop their nickels. in.

The uncertainty as to where the ball will drop keeps the piayer under
continued excitement.

This is quite a departure from the average ran of slot machines, 28
the interest created by its operation is a fair exchange to the player for
his money, even .if he obtains no rewards.

Simple paper flyers were sent out in the mail, or given to travelling agents by the droves. The cheap paper quickly disintegrated, which makes the survivors rare. This is the flyer for the

It Therefore Satisfies Everybody.

It must be seen in operation to be appreciated, as cold type cannot
do it justice.

It is one of the handsomest machines ever made. The case is made
of highly polished decorated nickel-plated metal, and warranted not to
get out of order.

We have lately added many improvements to this machine. There is
no way of robbing the machine of its contents. We use specially made
locks for the money drawer.

The machine can be altered in few seconds to work either with a
cent, nickel or dime, and can be re-changed again by moving the slide
attached to the slot hole; it can be adjusted to“Work with my~coin.

FINANCIAL.

You can sell hundreds of these machines in larga Cities and a great-

number in smaller Towns, and we are sure that by securing a good ter-
ritory for this machine you will be able to make from two to five hundred-
dollars a month. The attractiveness and purpose will secure for this
machine a place in Saloons, Cigar Stores, Barber Shops, Sporting places,
etc. The field for it is innumerous and not limited.

EXCLUSIVE TERRITORY.

We will grant you a territory if you want to handle this machine, and
we will give you all information how to proceed, but you must, before
negotiating for territories, buy one machine in order to see if it will pay

you to invest.
PRICE, $8.00.

Liberal discount will be given and most liberal terms offered to
buyers of the machines in quantities.

TERMS.

We sell our goods-only for cash One-third of amount must accompany
the order, the balance.we will qollect C O. D. We will take-in-payment
only New York Drafts, Express or Postal Money Orders. We make no
charges for packing, boxing or drayage. We allow 5% discount when fall
amount accompanies the order. No deviation from these terms.

He HF

Address all communications and make all checks and drafts payable to

J. W. STIRRUP MFG. COMPANY,

70 to 76 FULTON STREET,
New York City.

J. W. STIRRUP, PROPRIETOR,

1897 WINNER ROULETTE by J. W. Stirrup Manufacturing Company in New York City. Author’s Collection.

SANIHOVW OOT SHL

N
—

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

- gee ELE OT”
as —— a

Typical location of the teens and twenties has a Hamilton Manufacturing Company “Diamond Top” DAISY close to the cash register.

It’s tiny, but you can see it at the tip of the cashier’s left hand. Location is the Great Northern Cigar Store in Hot Springs, Arkansas,
circa 1916. Author’s Collection.

Trade stimulators add a touch of class to commercial museums and tourist exhibits. This is the reconstructed barber shop in the old
Walker Tavern at Irish Hills in southeast Michigan, just off the old stagecoach route of Michigan Route 12 between Chicago and
Detroit. The machine is a Caille ROYAL JUMBO, circa 1906. Author’s Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES

id
a
fap “

PREMIUM GFree No. 1173

WRIGLEYS
“FAIREST:

SLOT
MACHINE
ASSORTMENT

20 Boxes of Gum and
Slot Machine for $16.00

Freight Prepaid

When the coin is placed in the slot the wheel
is rapidly revolved by its own momentum, the
small rubber indicator at the top showing what the player is entitled to.

The wheels are numbered with one 3, three 2’s and forty-four 1’s. Numbers visible from
both sides, making it unnecessary to turr@she Machine around to see the winning numbers.

; e
The Fairest Wheel always gives one 0°" ? and sometimes three times the player’s money’:

worth, but, the average sale is six fo enty-five cents.
*
Cannot be manipulated by slugs as lastgeoin played remains in sight until released.
Is constructed of oak, golden finish—nretal parts nickel plated, highly polished.
-

We offer this Fairest Wheel with 20 boxes of WRIGLEY’S S&22ZZZi@> WRIGLEY’S
JUICY FRUIT EXPORT PACKAGE, Juicy Fruit (long bar), Sweet
16 (assorted flavors), Vassar, Pepsin or Zeno Vending Machine Gum, for $16.00,

Freight Prepaid ORDER FROM YOUR JOBBER Freight Prepaid

To keep the Gum fresh and in good salable condition *yave it packed in WRIGLEY’S New No. 6“NICKEL-TOP”
JAR. See last page for particulars.

bated
at "a
,

Dealers in

0. H. FLOWER, Mgr. R. C, FLOWER, Treas.

POLO el el el al ly

Also Second-Hand

“Nationals” 3

And OTHERS.

Ne@ wy

os " ae 4 _—s
hg SP Fhe att
« 4 > . a,
Bet x - ep Ro ores
JEL GIS . » H
os S
Cty, ee “ oe
oe Se 3 % a SA
zs es Soe a ty eee: Bean
SS 4 ae me 7 a . yy 4 -
os, hae
- Ss “ "* 2
-
na
; P
~ > ‘.
ae
* .

/ a’ ete Uh
< ; .
/ Pep Na fb ates

FLOWER MFG.CO. —

The maker’s name was lost on
the Decatur THE FAIREST
WHEEL as often as not. Here
it is promoted as Wrigley’s
FAIREST SLOT MACHINE. In
actual fact it is the FAIREST
WHEEL NO.3. Buyers of
Wrigley gum got the machine
all but free with 20 boxes.
Courtesy Jack Freund.

Many of the trade stimulator makers were small businessmen. Here is a typical letterhead from the Flower Manufacturing Company of
Cincinnati, Ohio. O. H. Flower was making cigar machines by 1912. One can only suspect that the little girl with the squash racket was

his daughter. Author’s Collection.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Action at the check-
out counter at the
Ballou Latimer Drug
Store in Boise, Idaho,
in the late teens. The
Mills COMMERCIAL
caught the extra pen-
nies in change, pay-
ing off in merchan-
dise. Author’s Col-
lection.

ELAS

Re te ee ee ae

¥,& #, &. *, *

«!
3
ee
od
2
ig

.
ie
eee |

¥,
Bm we

Donald L. Mauger, center, stands with his sales staff waiting for customers in his general store. The cigar counters are clear, but the
checkout counter has a Decatur FAIREST WHEEL No.3 and a Jonas D. Bell DEWEY, both probably earned by case gum credits with
Wrigley’s. The store location is in Paoli, Indiana. Rich Penn Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES 31

s? - SF Ae,
: a “ “es rn a . ge = ead
2 a 4 epee, , Let i c# wey
F Ns ‘ — a ot oe is
‘ ae A Stag ey wa nS e +
oi N bia in: ) “te See oes. et ee xe $ "cae Fe Kod -
*”& >. ea ao . ‘ 4: oe fi 2 ates’ ‘
: wit ep fie “ee to “Fs oe
Pa Te as Ps =F > BA cape} P z SR igs
: sata ss a0 eal aoe ; yet $ roe ae By
5 TT ic a. Ar aie “ =i po - “iy! ae ze :
at. = = =P Z Pci o> - wnat a y pins Quat ow oF , ay
: FF Gantt! a Pn = an . $a re & 4 ; ; se is errs Lae
gays Kee ; ‘ a Se ta sates ; iMG : a a aT he
9 _ C3
: ‘
-
;
:
’
£
-
t
:
f
,
3
s
:
;

Can-Be (ie-llsed:

| In every city, town, village and hamlet there are many locations for the |
)
i
|
i

CAILLE PENNY BALL GUM VENDER. Drug stores, cigar stores, confectioners
pool rooms. dance halls in fact any place where people gather will be found a
profitable location for this construction.

SE eS TA URE er ne ee

THE-CAILLE~PENNY-BALI-GUM-VENDER

THE CAILLE PENNY BALL GUM VENDER opens a new field for operators as it can be oper-
ated anywhere and everywhere—no territory is closed to this vender. It is the greatest small
coin machine ever offered—real three-in-one combination, a regular penny ball gum vender, a for-
tune teller and a miniature Operator’s Bell. Reel strips are of the standard Cherry, Bell type, same
as used on leading makes of Mint Venders and Operator’s Bells for many years and have proven
so attractive and well known to the public. Fortune telling reward card has same combinations
as the Bell type machine. The fortunes are interesting and amusing.

Casino Amusement-Machine Co.
70 Monroe Avenue

DETROIT, MICH., U. S.A.

Introductory flyer for the Caille PENNY BALL GUM VENDER of 1925. Distributor is the Casino Amusement-Machine Company in
Detroit. Author’s Collection.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Waiting for customers at the Economy Drug Company in Fargo, North Dakota. Fountain has a Coca-Cola sign at left, while the
cashier’s counter has a Mills JOCKEY poker machine at the far right. Circa 1904. Rich Penn Collection.

The Mills COMMER-
CIAL had a long trade
stimulating life. Here is
an example at the Big
Curio Store in Tijuana,
Mexico, during Prohibi-
tion in the 1920s.
Tourists that went south
for a drink often ended
up in the souvenir shop.
The card machine is at
lower right, catching the
customers as they went
out. Author’s Collec-
tion.

—
a

aah

fia
owo-
a

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THE 100 MACHINES

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AMrems BACON

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IMPROVED MODEL

It Get’s the Money!

CA ELIHeS
Fortune Ball Gum Vender

Descriptive Circular and Special Informa-

THEE tion about placing and Operati
E 7 acing ¢€ perating this
ee | Wonderful Money Getter sent on request.
MADE GOOD OPERATORS AND DISTRIBUTORS
EVERYWHERE Send for Our Special Proposition on
Quantities
6216 Second Boulevard <i DETROIT, MICHIGAN

The improved model of the Caille PENNY BALL GUM VENDER reintroduced as the Caille FORTUNE
BALL GUM VENDER with an aluminum front. This ad is from the June 1927 issue of The Automatic Age.
Author’s Collection.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

SUPERIOR

FORTUNE BALL GUM VENDER
All That The Name Implies

c YOUR FORTUNE
and

BALL GUM

wil — thy ied
te ths, ot ony ~ a5 ate na fae
ultres—intellige one ror
effort— whe his a all the’ we :
read te success.
Ye a |
™ o ‘’ im © rou one's #
n t

Size: Height 18”, Width 14”, Depth 1014”. It only weighs 26 pounds.
Price for sample machine $45.00. Write for quantity prices.

All but the spitting image of the Caille product, the Superior Confection company FORTUNE BALL GUM
VENDER has the same name. The difference is in the marquees, with the Caille reverting to the original alu-
minum frame. This machine was also advertised in the June 1927 The Automatic Age. Author’s Collection.

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iu Aili | i ' i | a Hil ) v rf H iH} i i | | i} al if i
i : ! Tg a ih of sata in ‘cou be AOS aeestul ee Have Tee
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| Six Great Money Makers—Six of the finest small
machines ever built for the storekeeper. Convenient,
amusing and real profit-makers. Remember that small
Ne Fear Mills Jockey coins grow into fortunes, interest your patrons into
| The Jockey is the same as the Little Perfection spending their small change! These Six Mills Ma-

No
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i
ase —_e Built for nickel sail

ebsEat

customers will take to it—

except that three people may play it at one chines are headliners in the small machine field and
w EM EM Me E R [ time. The slots numbered 1, 2, and 3 cor- i ;
respond with the poker hands 1, 2, and 3. carry with them the backing of many thousand mer-
Put a Mills Trade Stimula- Reward cond indicates winning combination, chants who have used them with great success for _
ne oh See aeest Visas The Jockey cabinet is finely finished with a wal
, highly decorated aluminum front. It is built many years. wage at

| ‘ for h for penny or nickel play, and comes complete,
play it——stay for hours at a

stretch, meanwhile spend-

ready to operate. Makes from $20.00 to

pikiae ges wesk. Pep Up Your Business!

ing other money on your
regular merchandise. These

Mills Target Practice Trade Stimulators—Money Makers—so

machines take up small Mills Wizard Fortune Teller and so efficient at makin tofits
A real trade stimulator, has an irresistible space, are easily moved and Tak sire of thee ‘cuslons paiple land, 0 pau h | f £ P h ME ny
suse er easei Sa sae ‘ es care . ‘
appe a. Trigger shoots oin aon ard the handled. and are automatic : Tells AN themselves in a Tew — ‘i a \, me ni
targets; if it misses, coin trickles through : : know, all people are curious. Tells your for la li Ey wh : :
pins and drops into slots marked 1, 2, 5, in operation. tune for a penny. “How do I look to others?” rge or small, is strivin "ft Hi i “4 sal Hi
or G. “Shall I be wealthy?” “Am I going to mar- ness.” You want cu 8 ii Se st ni
No. 1 means Sc in trade, No. 2, 10c, and ry?” “What will my future wife look like?” f NAP A
No. 5, 25¢; “G” means gum, which you The Wizard answers these questions and many the 4 of the cash register, quicker turn
hand out over the counter. Most mer-

chants use penny ball gum or mint balls,

more in a manner that is humanly interesting. lines you sell!
Takes in $20.00 to $30.00 per week.

iT: . Fy BS ra IT} » ; 4 | 2 Pe x Find if A real little profit maker. Takes in $12.00 to with some of t mi a nt t
; os <r oa | be emetic $20.00 a week in hundreds of stores. all it it
' wee = ‘5 WeA, in Hh fe Fr

is Hil iil, It iil in és hi Hin I
‘i i aa yo w nei, p90 |

chines is, i teal vr i A
Mills Firefly era rele work Nt tes "en ' i
A fine little money maker. The Firefly sells a “shot” of electricity for a penny. s ” Ca a il hu dal i it ih iw my ra }
Current is supplied from an siliatey dy battery which comes A Ba Mail the Enclosed Order Blank r mr Wh tN at i i a 7 “Hil Mi
or kT ule SUSY TT NEN cee Today and Cash In Immediately! —_itit belongs to youl

stores like yours. A great little Fun-maker.

on a. , fh ey
4 i mt | i . A C Hiya: ill Vb , ell fe of 7 (
i iH itt} | i i i i Hit

HHA mh i
Hi he ia

The full Mills Novelty line of trade stimulators and counter games at the time this sheet was printed on June 19, 1929. The games have been recreated from older machines in lesser

cabinets, replacing the oak and cast iron of the pre-World War I years. The PERFECTION poker machine is boxy, the JOCKEY has a full aluminum front, and the PURITAN BELL
has fruit reels. Author’s Collection.

SUNIHOVI OO! SHL

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

THE 100 MACHINES

A Guide to Finding Antique Coin Machines

One of the distinct advantages of liv-
ing in a freeway society is the fact that get-
ting from one city to another by car is rela-
tively fast and economical when compared
to the alternatives. But there’s also a loss;
it’s more aesthetic than actual. We no
longer see a cross-section of the country-
side. The major losses are the small towns
and old city neighborhoods that forged our
land. The rural towns and old city build-
ings are still there, but for all practical pur-
poses the only traffic is local.

When going from one place to anoth-
er the dedicated coin machine collector
takes a different view, as well as a differ-
ent road. Probably even a different car, if
a passenger car at all. More likely our col-
lector has a station wagon or a van with
plenty of room to haul machines and a
bunch of old blankets or corrugated boxes
to protect any finds that might show up.
Sure it’s a junky way to travel and it gen-
erally requires an understanding spouse or

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partner, but if coin machines and trade
stimulators are where you’re coming from,
that’s the way you’ll go. Read on and
you'll soon see why.

As the first and up to that time the
only book devoted to trade stimulators the
first volume of An Illustrated Price Guide
to the 100 Most Collectible Trade Stimula-
tors published by Coin Slot Books formal-
ized a collectible field that had been grow-
ing by leaps and bounds the previous two
Or three years. The reasons for such
growth were multiple, but primarily cen-
tered on the fact that coin machines — from
slot and gambling machines to old cigar
trade stimulators, counter games, arcade
machines, juke boxes, music, vending
machines and pinball games — had become
one of the hottest new areas of collectibles
in the country. The trade stimulators and
counter games came in for special atten-
tion because they were becoming available
in greater numbers, were small enough to

place on a table or sideboard, provided a
multitude of fascinating play features, and
were relatively inexpensive compared to
their larger automatic payout gambling
machine counterparts.

They also have additional and unique
charms. For one thing, trade stimulators
and counter games are legally collectible
in virtually all states — automatic payout
slots aren’t and can lead to trouble depend-
ing on where you live — and above all else,
they are a lot of fun to play. The fantastic
array of play principles that can be found
in counter games cannot be matched by
any other collectible, not even toys or
mechanical banks. The best part of all is
that the player gets some form of action
when every one of these machines is
played. They are literally games, as their
name implies. Why it took so long for col-
lectors to tumble to the playing and col-
lecting joy of trade stimulators and counter
games is really a mystery; they’ve been

This is back in the days when drugstores really sold drugs, as well as sodas and cigars. The man behind the counter at center right is
standing beside a Decatur FAIREST WHEEL NO. 2 cigar trade stimulator with a glass-walled cash box. The location is in Maryland

around 1898. Ira Warren Collection.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

A California gold country saloon in the early 1900s. A Mills LITTLE PERFECTION card machine is at the far left end of the bar. Birn-

baum Collection.

around for years. Perhaps it took the nos-
talgia craze and the willingness to regard
printed advertising and lithographed signs
as art that finally brought the non-payout
coin-operated games out of the darkness.
But when it happened, it happened big.
Specialized trade stimulator and counter
game collectors began to buy up the
machines in antique shops and in the hands
of slot machine collectors. But as far as
the open market was concerned it stopped
right there. There just weren’t that many
in private hands. As a result, and as of this
writing, there are collections to be sure,
but nowhere near the large and command-
ing collections that there are in most other
fields of antiques. In the collectible field
of trade stimulators and counter games
anyone can be major collector. It takes
money to be sure — just pay high prices
and buy everything that you see or hear of
and you’ll have a big collection in a hurry
— but more than money it takes knowledge
and perseverance.

That’s probably the most interesting
and exciting aspect of collecting trade
stimulators and counter games. Many of

the machines that end up in collections
aren’t bought, they’re found! Because the
discipline has been largely ignored for so
long few people up to now bothered with
the devices. The antique shops aren’t
cleared out (not yet, anyway) and many of
the hundreds and thousands of these small
counter machines that were put in storage,
tucked in a barn, packed in a warehouse,
stashed away in the basement of an old
store, saloon, restaurant, pool hall or hotel,
or taken home years ago by an old store-
keeper or bartender, are still there. It
sounds illogical that in the 1990s you can
find the coin operated trade stimulators of
the 1890s and early 1900s and the counter
games of the 1920s, 1930s, the ‘40s and
the ‘50s in their original locations or in
somebody’s barn or basement. But it hap-
pens all the time. If you know what you’ re
looking for, and have an idea of what it’s
worth, you can increase your odds of mak-
ing original finds and have it happen to
you.

It was to start to meet this need for
knowledge and value that led to the writ-
ing and publication of An Illustrated Price

Guide to the 100 Most Collectible Trade
Stimulators first published in November,
1978. The general idea was to create a
guidebook to the most popular machines,
specifically those that could be found at
flea markets and in antique shops as well
as in the hands of dealers and collectors
and the ones most likely to be discovered
based on the large number of like
machines sold and operated in their hey-
day. As a result, the first book covered
most of the more common machines that
most fitted the “popular” category and
tended to stay away from rarities. It has
become a handbook for most of the trade
stimulator collectors and dealers, and if
you’re interested in this area of collectibles
you'll want to be sure to have a copy.

If the first volume fell short any-
where, it was in the area of the clarifica-
tion of an otherwise unidentifiable original
find. With only a hundred machines
detailed in a collectible field that has many
times that number, it was soon obvious
that the truly enthusiastic collector needed
to know about a lot of machines, including
the hard-to-finds and whatever else has

Here come the coin-ops! The middle 1880s M.E. Moore DICE-
BOX cigar cutter at left is manual. The coin-operated PERFEC-

THE 100 MACHINES 39

TION machine in the middle was made by Dunn Bros. of Ander-

son, Indiana, around 1905. At right is the classic AUTOMATIC There was a wide variety of chance devices in use before coin
DICE SHAKING MACHINE of 1892 made by the American Auto- operated machines came along. This is typical of the many race
matic Machine Company of New York City. Allan Pall Collec- games imported from France and England and played in saloons

tion.

been found and needs finding. Thus, this
follow-up volume of An I/llustrated Price
Guide to the 100 Most Collectible Trade
Stimulators — Volume 2 was born, adding a
second hundred machines to the cataloging
of trade stimulators and counter games,
and providing identification, information
and costs for both popular and obscure
machines, with additional volumes in this
series already in the works.

Trade stimulators and counter games
are practically unique in this regard. As
most of the new machines that enter col-
lection must be found rather than bought
on the open market, knowledge of little
known and otherwise rare machines is a
must for the tracker. So is a sixth sense
that puts the collector in a van on the back
roads of rural America. Between these
price guides and a willingness to hustle,
you’ll be amazed at your success because
— for sure — you’ll find machines.

for cash or drinks in the 1880s and 1890s. These early play prin-
ciples later showed up in coin machines. Bill Whelan Collection.

American ingenuity created many non-coin commercial and saloon trade stimulators in
the early years, paving the way for the later coin-operated machines using the same play-
ing features. This is the Waddel PLAY BALL of 1897. The player gave the merchant a
nickel for some marbles, then dropped them in the top for a score and a hoped-for payout
in merchandise. Its original advertising called it a “cash drawer and vending machine
combined.” Allan Pall Collection.

40 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

automatic) = SHAKING
DICE. | MACHINE.

WwoobpD-

NICKLED BRASS.

~ One Cent j in Slot First, then P me | |
— all the way down or loose your ot Ht SIZE.

_ > 3 Cigars. 134 Inches high,
Base 8iinches wide.

= >pohlaccs

Weight 7% Ibs. i |

*>3el|og<n

FOR CE 0
Ore One RTAIN THR

i} ) ie we cig pigs
“DSN “i 24 Muiray St-,

ind zs is $ 2

METAL BASE NICKLED,

The above is a cut of our Automatic Dice Shaking Machine. To operate it all thatis necessary is todrop
a penny in the slot and push the bar down, when the dice will be thrown sharply against the top of the
glass globe and fall back on the green circular table in the globe
The ‘‘Reward Card” on body of Machine is pasted on, and, therefore can be varied to suit the re
quirements of different localities and businesses.
The advantages this Machine posesses over all others in the market are that it is strony and simple
of construction, and therefore not liable to get out of order; it will earn the price of the Machine in 10
days time. It throws the dice well and squarely and therefore precludes any question of dispute; and
that its size, form and weight makes it easily portable and convenient for placing without a stand.
PRICE OF SINCLE MACHINE $7.50
Special rates given to parties who desire exclusive territorial rights,
Remittance can be sent with the order. but if desired, machine will be sent C. O. D. if $1.00 is sentasa
protection for express charges which will be deducted from the amount.
Exclusive rights given to investors.

Address all communications to

FIUDSON M OORE,
29 MURRAY STREET, NEW YORK.

Here’s how they sold coin-operated trade stimulators in the early 1890s. This is the Hudson Moore catalogue page for the American
Automatic Machine Company AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKING MACHINE, circa 1892. Note the circular tin cabinet on a wooden base.
Courtesy of New York Historical Society, New York City.

THE 100 MACHINES

Finding Old Trade Stimulators

It’s all well and good to get excited
about collecting trade stimulators provid-
ed, of course, that you really can find, buy
or barter for them without paying an arm
and a leg. The big question seems to be:
are they really findable?

They are now. But they won’t be for
long if you believe half of the collectors.
Or, if you believe the other half, you’ll be
able to find them forever. There’s an ele-
ment of truth to both opinions. There’s
also a parallel to prove each position. One
of the first if not the first mechanical
American-made collectibles to generate a
wide degree of collector interest were the
cast iron mechanical banks. Actually,
from the day they were introduced (and
that goes back to the 1870s) they were col-
lected, either by the children for whom the
banks were made, or by their parents, sib-
lings, aunts or uncles who saved them for
the younger set, oftentimes generating
their own collecting interest. As a result
the banks were often available in some
numbers when the estates of the early col-
lectors were purchased or went up for auc-
tion. The first modern generation of
mechanical bank collectors found them-
selves with a plethora of machines to
choose from at auctions that often offered
a variety of banks. After a few decades of
fairly easy pickings this situation came to
an end, with many of the bank collectors
kicking themselves ever since for passing
up banks that they’d give their eye teeth
for today. Therefore, some mechanical
bank collectors are of the firm opinion that
the banks are all gone, and all but impossi-
ble to find at a reasonable price. From
their point of view, they’re right.

The perseverant mechanical bank col-
lectors have an opposite view. They con-
tinue to check the antique shops for “bar-
gains” (although these are few and far
between now that mechanical bank pricing
is fairly rigid based on broad distribution
of price guides and identification books)
and hound auctions and estate sales to find
the onesy-twosy banks that might show up
at the oddest times. To these collectors,
banks will always be found, but in very
limited numbers and only after diligent
digging or aggressive advertising. There-
fore, to the bank collectors both views are
valid.

The situation is entirely different for
the coin-operated trade stimulators and
counter games; in the first instance, any-
way. Up to now there have been no auc-
tions of old-time trade stimulator and
counter game collections from the early
years of this century so there have been
few estate or business auctions that put
large undiscovered numbers of these
antique game machines on the market.
One can only assume that such collections

E. J. McLOUGHLIN.
TOY MONEY-BOX.

No. 191,065

WITNESSES ;
YA aor cid P21) Cecile

faporn ge

Patented May 22, 1877.

INVENTOR :

f Mg

The GUESSING BANK was first discovered on paper with U.S. Patent No. 191,065
issued to Edward J. McLoughlin of New York City on May 22, 1877. The patent says it is
for “Toy Money-Boxes” but the device is actually a coin-op chance machine for saloons.

United States Patent Office.

never existed in the past. There have been
first-time auctions of large numbers of
these machines to be sure, but they tend to
be auctions of miscellaneous items and
otherwise oddball things that were collect-
ed by mechanical scavengers, pickers or

antique dealers in the last thirty or forty
years, and the machines are often in terri-
ble condition. In fact, most auctions that
have considerable numbers of trade stimu-
lators and counter games on hand are the
specialized coin machine auctions that

IPARROW'Sjops

DUNKS e
‘_ * ig

The Page SALES INCREASER in its full
glory mounted and working on a National
cash register. Collector Bill Whelan
bound the first one in a California antique
shop. Bill Whelan Collection.

have grown since the boom in coin
machine collectibles, an auction trend
Started by coin machine collector-dealer
Roy Arrington of Las Vegas in the middle

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

1970s. As a result, the large scale auctions
haven’t cleaned out most of the original or
newly found stimulators and counter
games at all. They were just never there to
unload at one time, with most major
groups of these machines at auctions that
really recycle machines that were original-
ly found, and often quite recently, by cur-
rent collectors and dealers.

If the machines weren’t in collections
and can’t be found in quantity, where are
they and why do some collectors feel we’ ll
be finding them for a long time? The
answer to that question is what makes the
trade stimulator and counter game collect-
ing so interesting. It also puts the novice
collector at practically the same level as
the expert or well-heeled enthusiast, pro-
vided the beginner is willing to dig. And
the discoveries that came out of the dig are
what legends are made of.

The inescapable conclusion is that
trade stimulators and counter games
weren’t collected, preserved or treasured
by anybody in years past because they
weren’t regarded as interesting or valu-
able. They were, in their day and for long
after, commercial trash unworthy of con-
cern. When they outlived their usefulness
in the saloon or shop, they were tossed out.
When the pool hall, bowling alley, drug-
store or cigar counter where they worked
and picked their pennies, nickels, dimes
and quarters over the years (no $1.00 play
trade stimulators have ever been found and
only 2 or 3 machines had 50¢ play, so the
quarter was the “big” coin) closed up, the

trivance.

PRICE, .

lection.

machines went out with the trash or were
packed away with the effects for a distri-
bution of the assets at a later date. Some-
times the shopkeepers took them home as
a reminder of better days or because they
like them or the kids could have fun with
the game by playing for pennies. They
often ended up in the attic or garage. Just
as often the machines were stored under
sinks (sometimes as leg supports — they’ ve
been found that way), stacked in the corner
of the basement, left in the space when the
owner moved the shop or the building was
abandoned, or tossed in dumps. They
were throwaways. There weren’t made to
last. They were made to stimulate sales by
providing a chance at an extra cigar or two
for a nickel, extra sticks of gum for a
penny, or a chance at a pack to a carton of
cigarettes for a penny or a nickel. Once a
machine broke, needed a new paint job, or
the owner switched cigar brands away
from the one on the marquee, out they
went. Or they went home. And that’s
where most old trade stimulators and
counter games are found, tucked away in
the corners of their old buildings, or in the
basements, attics and garages of their pre-
sent Owners just waiting to be rediscovered
by you or a local antique dealer. The
machines are usually found one at a time,
and usually cheap. It’s when the machines
start working their way up the antique
marketing ladder to an often overzealous
collector that the prices go up to match the
enthusiasm and whatever value is in the
eye of the beholder.

THE HERD OR TAIL.

When a penny or nickel is put into the slot and the rod
pressed down, the coin is automatically shot up under the
glass and falls upon the disc, head up or tail up. If the
player makes acorrect guess he gets double his money's
worth in trade. A very unique and and amusing con-

The machinealso has a cigar cutting attachment.
Size, 9x10x15 inches.

Weight, 8% pounds,
$4.00.

The AUTOMATIC HEAD OR TAIL MACHINE dicer as sold by
Ogden & Company of Chicago in their 1898 catalogue. The
1890s practice of putting dealer names on machines made by oth-
ers has led to a lot of later confusion for collectors. Author’s Col-

THE 100 MACHINES 43

THE LITTLE MONTE CARLO.

A MARVEL OF BEAUTY.

New, novel, neat. The cdin always sbows so
that no “slugs” or “counterfeits” can be used and
no disputes arise as to what was played. The
latest in slot machines and the most profitable and
attractive. Five persons can play at once or one

erson can play five different combinations, viz.:
Red, Black, Star, Single O and Double O. The
machine is operated by 8 a nickel in one
of the five slots and turning the knob; this action
revolves the wheel and the ball rolls around at a
fairly rapid rate and drops into one of the 25 com-

artments of the wheel, the player winning if the
Fall drops into the compartment marked the same
as the slot into which the nickel was dropped—the
coin always showing under the color of figure
played, therefore needs no watching. Any or all
of the five slots can be used at one playing.

There are 9 Biack pockets paying 2 for 1
“ 9 Red “ 46 2 + {
a 4 Star ee a 4 « 1
a 2 Single O “ . Ss
" 1 Double O“ ee Se

Winnings can be paid in Merchandise or
Money, according to the wishes of the player or
owner.

The marvelous earning capacity of our Monte
Carlo justifies us in the assertion that it is abso-
lutely the best Siot Machine ever made. Never
gets out of order and calls attention to any “fak-
ing” or “crookedness” by the automatic ringing of
a bell. The machine is made of Brass, Steel and
Iron, the lower frame being made of embossed metal, artistically decorated, and is aa ornament to any piace, no

matter how fine,
PRICE, $710.00.

The original National Manufacturing Company LITTLE MONTE CARLO made in New York City as
advertised in the Ogden & Company catalogue of 1898. By 1899 it was being made and sold by the
Mills Novelty Company of Chicago. Author’s Collection.

‘The Queen of all Slot Machines!

Ri el Wieklep. ) |
eed “4 Pickel diekler,

HIS Machine has patent slot receptacle

which makes the player lose control of

coin when it drops zigzig through, resting in

space opposite number, refer to reward card

on top of Machine. It remains in view

until the next nickel is dropped, when it dis-

| appears automatically, falling into apartment

box which corresponds with numbers on face

of machine, thus showing how many rewards

have been paid. This is of great advantage

, where machines are rented and rewards are

/ paid by owner. The above pays about 16
» Cigars for 20 Nickels.

On the reverse side of the reward card will
be found another reward form on which you
can play 8 different games by calling numbers
etc. There is apparently great inducement to
play these games as it appears easy to call
and make. It is neatly constructed, handsome-
ly finished, steel face, glass front and made
from quartered oak,

Drop a Nickle in the Slot,

2 Cigars if it stops at 1 ne

1 Cigar if it stops at 3 Number Called
é 1 Cigar if it stops at 5 and MADE,

2 Cigars if it stops at 7 5 CIGARS.

puree 2 Micke Here.
Ha 3h gee EIage

tu 9eb TwoCigats

Sa apg et IE te ang IN TS A

Snare

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reread eee ate 9 nil. cnet

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SN re REE ITT NL Se penne A TNE OAR I gt sy,
Ax S
iy s
7 Pe sy ~

a Any Number Any Number ~

sy and Made few ee Made

y wiee in iree Times in

Succession, Succession. Price 18. 00.
10 CIGARS. 25 CIGARS. »

Chas. T, Maley Revelty Go.,

CINCINNATI, 0.

Depth 7 in.
Weight, 8 lbs.

ee
| Size: Height, 15in. Width,12in |

When Charles T. Maley of Cincinnati started selling his landmark NICKEL TICKLER cigar
machine around 1894 the coin-op trade stimulator boom was off and running. The machine is list-
ed in this volume as the Western Weighing NICKEL TICKLER. Author’s Collection.

44 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

The Mills’ Success Fortune Teller

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JO i/fp fe
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| ‘ We EVER in
! ~~ N the his.
tory of the
world has there been :
machine invented that
nas such wonderful power on
the human mind as the

Mills’ Success
Fortune
Telle r. 27 RUN'IA 34

.
ve

Fivery pzge of history tells of the de-
sire of the human race to know
‘semething of the future. Next to the influ-
ences of future-foretelling on the human
iver is the charm of “Fate.” “Luck” or
“Chance ---in fact, the two are inseper-
able.
We sew have a machine that answers
just that purpose, and, using both of
these laws of mind, appeals to every
living nan.
"Frere are two magic reels ‘one for
ladies and one for gentiemen), and
by depositing a penny and pressing a lever
the racle turn. and the fortune is told by
the paying cecds. with the interpretation
plainty printed on then. carefully prepared
by “out owe Hebrew Magi” aftera tireless
searct: through the ancient documents of
their mystic lore.
THERE is no expense in keeping the
machine: all the returns, are clear
profit. Vast sums of money are paid
every year to Palmists, Gypsies. Phrenol-
ogists. Mind-Readers and Mediums, etc.
To know that Mills’ Fortune Teller will
turn these laws of mind into a“ Stream
of Morey” for you, better start it at once.
Trey can be piaced in
Pleasure Resorts, Parks. /

Fairs and Carnivals. Depots.

Hotels. etc.. and the machine

will coin money.

a is made of all iron and
fi ished in handsome

BLACK AND YELLOW
ENAMEL

‘dr RED, if preferred.
Has its own
Stand, and can
be fastened to
walk or
plat-
form.

..MADE ONLY BY....

Mills Novelty Company

11 to 23 South Jefferson Street, Chicago,

Dynamite copy! Typical of what made the Mills Novelty Com
| | pany so successful in the early 1900s. This ad for the SUC -
TUNE TELLER appeared in the June 27, 1903 issue of The Billboard. Mills stuck new fortune reels on the : UCCESS es po

picked up from Leo Canda and made separate machines for “Ladies” and “Gentlemen.” Author’s Collection.

Practically every trade stimulator or
counter game currently in a collection that
was an original find — rather than a coin
machine auction buy, dealer purchase or
collector trade — has a story behind it.
Some of these stories have become collec-
tor legends, with new legends being creat-
ed every year as more original finds are
made. Most of the original find stories
have a common thread. The collector
starts asking questions of any and every-
body and gets the name of someone who
might know about a machine. That person
is followed up, with all resulting tips fol-
lowed up just as vigorously, with the hope-
ful finder usually getting more and more
enthused as each step, if not just poorer for
all the gas and telephone calls. In the end
most tips turn out to be duds — get that,
most tips aren’t worth a damn — but some-
times they pay off. The cynical and the
quitters fold fast, and usually find their
machines through sheer luck, or just buy
them. The determined, on the other hand,
are in for a lot of heartache and wasted
time. But ... if, after hard work, they
finally make an original find ... .

It’s a thrill that’s hard to describe.
And it happens all the time. Some of the
stories are incredible; some the inevitable
result of careful but ordinary digging; and
some showing the application of pure
genius. All are banter for a collector gath-
ering, with the exceptional tales becoming
the collector’s story of a lifetime. A few
of them, some simple and some bold, will
demonstrate what can happen and give you
pointers on how you can accomplish the
same thing.

Sometimes it doesn’t take much to
make a find; just a change in habitual
thinking can help it along. One Illinois
collector, driving from Louisville to
Cincinnati in the late spring of 1978 decid-
ed to stay off I-71 through Kentucky,
electing to drive along the Ohio River on
the Indiana side. Along the way he
stopped in every antique shop. Short of
Cincinnati he entered a shop and was just
about ready to leave when he spied two
large coin operated floor machines stand-
ing along the back wall. In one lucky find
he had added two machines to the four
known examples of the Canda JUMBO
GIANT (illustrated, described and priced
in the first volume of An Illustrated Price
Guide to the 100 Most Collectible Trade
Stimulators) of 1897. He bought both
machines on the spot and had to go back
and get them later. They weren’t cheap,
but their cost was more than reasonable in
relation to the rarity and value of the
machines. The important thing was that
the collector knew they were Canda
machines the moment he saw them, where-
as the shopkeeper had no idea what they

THE 100 MACHINES

The Search is the Thing

were or how many (or more to the point,
how few) still existed. Most amazing of
all, the machines had been sitting in the
shop for a long time.

Random finds might seem pure luck
(and in a way they are), but if you work to
make your own luck you just might have
the same experi-
ence, often when
you least expect it.
Back in 1976, when

the manager of the anf

to evolve the practice, but now it’s the way
he does most of his looking.

Rich describes his methods for find-
ing old machines: “J used to run ads in
rural newspapers. I still do. But they
don’t work as well as they used to. Nowa-
days when someone sees an ad for old coin

A
i ¥ Car
FALL,

™~

Seven Acres Muse- ~ ne wet OFZ
-* % 4 4

s he 4
4
ey
zz 9

um and Village in
Union, _ [Ilinois,
went into’ the
ancient hardware
store in town to get
some wood screws
he suddenly noticed
the old store fix-
tures for the first
time. On a hunch
he asked the owner
if he had any old
coin machines or
trade stimulators
around the place.
They ended up in
the basement where
they found an old
Hudson Moore
countertop AUTO-
MATIC DICE
SHAKING MA-
CHINE from 1892.
The glass dome was
broken, but the
machine worked
and most of the
paper (including a
card that offered
“Free Cigars”) was
intact. The finder
got it for $30, and it
went right into the
museum down the
road. More than
just an original find,
it also taught collec-

tors that store
patrons even played
dice games for

cigars in hardware
stores before the
turn of the century.
An Iowa col-
lector named Rich
Penn has made a
practice of getting
into old stores, and
while most of the
sojourns lead to
nothing, once in a
while they pay off.
It took him a while

VRP oe

The pedestal card machines originally created in the middle
1890s as trade stimulators by The Leo Canda Company in
Cincinnati got a new lease on life in the early 1900s when they
became penny arcade fortune tellers. This is the Caille Bros.
JUMBO FORTUNE TELLER, actually a re-reeled JUMBO SUC-
CESS. Photography author.

machines in their local paper with an out-
of-town address they figure the machines
are worth something. So that take it, or
them, to a local antique dealer, and
they’re so surprised at the offer that they
sell them right then and there. The antique
dealer gets the machines and I never hear
a thing.

Or worse, I get the call and follow up,
and find a lot of great stuff. But the owner
is wary, and either wants more than
they’re worth or can’t make up his mind to
sell. I’ve got quite a few of those on the
string, and I just know that someday
they’ll sell, but not to me. It gives me
nightmares.

But now I do my looking on a one-on-
one basis, and I think it’s a lot better.
When I’m driving I take the back roads or
work my way through small towns. When-
ever I see a store that looks like its been
around for a while I stop and go in. I start
out by saying I’m buying old store cases,
and right off the bat that gets me into the
basement. If I said old coin machines or
trade stimulators they’d look at me
blankly. Most people don’t know what
they are and even if they did they probably
wouldn’t know if they had one. But cabi-
nets, everybody knows that, they’re too big
to hide. It works half the time, but most of
the time there’s nothing down there except
an old store cabinet and I end up saying
it’s not really the king of showcase I’m
looking for.

But once in a while you get down
there and start looking around and you see
something. That’s when you’ve got to stay
cool and start working out a deal for
everything: cabinet, machines and all.”

A small store basement in Iowa in the
summer of 1978 made all of the effort
worthwhile. Rich had made the stop,
talked with the storekeeper briefly about
his search for showcases, and soon they
were downstairs to view a cabinet. In the
far corner, practically buried under trash,
Rich quickly spotted a Mills Q.T. slot
machine from the middle thirties, and as
he pulled it out to take a look, he saw
another machine.

“My heart almost stopped. I couldn’t
tell what it was, but I could see it was a
coin machine with a plunger that shook
dice under a glass dome. But the most
remarkable thing about the machine was
the fact that the mechanism in the base
was fully visible because the cabinet had
clear glass sides with the graphics
‘Wrigley’s Gum’ pasted inside the front
panel. I made him an offer for the show-
case which he turned down as too low. So
I doubled it if he’d throw in the two coin
machines, and walked out with all three
pieces for $250.”

Penn had found the first known exam-
ple of the WRIGLEY DICE MACHINE
made by the Dunn Brothers of Anderson,
Indiana in the early 1900s. Until his dis-
covery both the machine and the manufac-

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Many advanced collectors rank early trade stimulators right up there with their big auto-
matic payout machines. In the background the Canda/Mills JUMBO of 1896-1902 on
original legs, left, and the fabulous Caille Bros. QUINTETTE of 1901-1913, right, seem-
ingly get more attention than a whole row of Caille payout floor machines. Photograph
from Russell Riberto.

turer were totally unknown to coin
machine historians and collectors.

Finding something old that’s “new” in
terms of an undiscovered or unknown
machine or manufacturer is rare, but it
does happen. More often than not most
finds are of machines that are known,
either through existing examples already in
collections or through old advertising,
sales literature or catalogs. The author has
had both of the latter experiences on trips
of discovery. Once, wanting to get tickets
to a play at the Blackstone Theater just
south of Chicago’s “Loop” I decided to
walk going by way of South State Street, a
former honky-tonk and semi-skid row area
of old buildings populated with pawn-
shops, triple-X movie houses and adult
bookstores, since torn down and rehabili-
tated. But my eyes weren’t at the ground
level; I was searching for an old Mills
Wonderland penny arcade building that
had been in operation in the early 1900s.
Three blocks into the street I spotted what
was apparently left of the word “Arcade”
in gold gilt on a second story window of a
four story building. Looking at ground
level I quickly saw that it was not the
building I was looking for. Actually it was
older, a used bookstore at street level.
Going in, I had to wait while the two or
three customers in the store made their
buys from the proprietress, a lady named
Frieda Fenster, as I later learned. I asked
Frieda the meaning of the “Arca...”’ on the
upstairs window. She replied, “I don’t
know. It was there when I got the build-

ing.” Then, more customers. Alone again,
I asked if there was anything in the build-
ing when she got it. The answer was no,
and when more customers came in, I was
ready to leave. Only I decided to give it
one more shot. The customers left and I
asked, “Was there anything in the base-
ment?” When she replied, “I don’t know.
I never went through it. There’s no light
down there,” I knew right away I had to
get into it.

But I couldn’t budge Frieda. She told
me the clerk was sick and she was all
alone that day, and there was no way she
would let me into the basement or leave
the shop. It took a lot of talking and every
persuasive trick in the book (Frieda later
called me a Con Man after we became
good friends), but I soon found myself
going down the rickety stairs flashlight in
hand, with my imagination going wild.
The furnace area was neat enough, but far
forward and directly under the old State
Street sidewalk was an original dirt floor
basement piled high with crates and junk.
The sound of scurrying rats and dripping
water was drowned out by my movement
of boxes shifted one at a time by the dim
light of the flashlight stuck in the rafters.

The original find wasn’t anywhere
near what I hoped it would be, but finding
something is always better than finding
nothing. I came out of the deal with a
Groetchen PIKES PEAK of 1941 on an
original heavily weighted iron pedestal
base and a bunch of late thirties pinball
games. The location had probably been a

World War 2 arcade running wide open for
the servicemen who flooded the area in the
years between 1941 and 1945. I pulled the
counter game out on the spot, hauled it
upstairs, made a deal with Frieda to come
back and get the other machines later, and
carried my rusty and heavy coin machine
load out in front to hail a cab. Before I got
one at least a dozen people stopped and

THE 100 MACHINES

asked “What’s that?” The cab driver
asked the same thing as man and machine
squeezed into the back seat.

It just goes to show that finds can be
made right in the heart of a major city.
Other enthusiastic collectors have done the
same thing in Detroit, St. Louis, New York
and Denver, and surely many major urban
areas remain untapped. As for my deal

A NEW

with Frieda, she didn’t want money, but
when she found out I was the creative
director of an advertising agency she did
want advertising. So in exchange for the
machines, I wrote ads for used books and
place them in The Antique Trader in the
summer of 1976. That’s how Frieda Fen-
ster became the first national advertiser on
her block and sold a lot of books to boot.

DICE SLOT MACHINE

With interchangeable slots. Can be operated with
a Penny, Nickel, Dime or Quarter, the Coin Detector

registering amount played. ___

A WINNER———ATTRACTIVE—--—FASCINATING &

TRADE
GAMING
Machine

A GOoD

PUVA WY

Sales-

man
FOR

aa
Cigar
Counter.

PUVUsUouwvevd

—_—

PRICE

32.19,

Wil
“Pay
“fr
‘itself

A machine which is one of the quickest and best money maxers of all the smalies

line of cigar and trade machines; works automatically by dropping coin in slot and
pressing rod down. Each.coin shows after every play

YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN PRIZE LIST.

One printed below, being divided so as to give you an extra. heavy percentage..

5 Aces:_._..._..pay 50 for £ 6 pays... wwe e25 forl PETAR G Raich senrtesoneser SOT-I

5 Duces...... ‘50 “2 Tg tcecemmrsen cement BR esetercanenen ne PY

S Tyave nu 36-4 : ee mane me en er ae

S$ Fours “50 11g BT eserntenannee 10 “J
PR ec EE en tucitsrasi We ed Se eee eee 1 ae a
S Sixes ncaa. oe 5G: 88 0% Oe OR 1 ORO Ps O5 bf 4-

satsicie 29
PRICE COMPLETE, $7.50

wee C. 0. D.— Only on deposit of 83.00, with privilege of examination if ‘desired. BAA

Everybody got into the act! This is the DICE SLOT MACHINE offered in the 1897 catalogue of the
Kernan Manufacturing Company of Chicago. It’s practically the same as the Hudson-Moore
AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKING MACHINE except for its boxy wooden base. Author’s Collection.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

The cigar counter in the lobby of the Hotel Beaufort in Minneapolis, circa 1915, sports the Caille Bros. MAYFLOWER and JOCKEY
card machines. If the hotel is still standing, check the basement. Ira Warren Collection.

i
§
i
Fi
: &
2%

. —ew weneey CET LTT ee
“peer ee SLA

‘S

Teo

Dae a es

Nifty details often add a lot to machine value. This is the side of
the cast iron Bradford LARK dicer, circa 1907. The LARK

machine is described elsewhere in this volume. Bill Whelan Col-

Why aren’t there more of these Bell DEWEY machines around?
lection.

Wrigley’s gum gave them away with an order for 8 boxes of gum

between 1899 and around 1902. Maybe the country store collec-
tors have them. Author’s Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES 49

Sic IMPROVED AUTOMATIC. ROULETE,

A Perfect [liniature Roulette Wheel.

When the nickel is placed in the slot and the handle is pressed, the wheel is rapidly revolved
which at the same time throws the balk at a high speed, after which
the ball will fall into one of the numbered holes.

The Reward Card

shows what the player is entitled to

IN CIGARS, DRINKS

Or whatever you choose to pay out.

ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING
And interesting of any Slot Machine.

IT I$ DOUBLY FASCINATING,
| As it appears so easy to win.

Pal ir me

It is bound to tempt your customers to
drop their nickels in.

The uncertainty as to where the ball

will drop keeps the player under con:

tinunl excitement.

Size, 13x13 inches, Weight, 12 Ibs.
This is quite a departure from the average ryn of slot machines, as the interest created by

its operation is a fair exchange to the player for his money, even if he obtains no rewards.

It Therefore Satisfies Everybody.

It must be seen in operation to be appreciated, as cold type can not do it justice.

It is one of the handsomest machines ever made. ‘The Cabinet is made of Quartered Oak,
in Antique Finish and highly polished with Nickel Trimmings and warranted not to get out of
order.

We have lately added many improvements to this machine, which will be appreciated by
every one who saw this machine in its former shape. We made a Safety cover over the money
drawer and there is no way of robbing the machine of its contents. We use specially-made
Locks on the cabinets.

The machine can be altered in a few seconds to work either with a cent, nickel, or dime.
and can be re-changed again. Witha little work it can be adjusted to work with any coin ex-
clusively from the size of a silver dollar to the size of the simallest coin.

Can furnish this machine mounted on pedestal if desired.

Write for prices, terms and territory,

There were many variations, round and square, of the ROULETTE of the middle 1890s as made by Western Automatic, Griswold, Claw-
son, Hudson Moore, Kernan, T.J. Nertney and others. Author’s Collection.

50 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

- tat ay
aca eee ne
.” : > A

: . ingead b'/ Ler 4 \
‘ et a In }
i a >
STAs Bay
~_ 2 + ¢
zy ert tc . it Rati |

”
Ss

THE JUMBO GIANT.

j This isthe tallest machine in existence, being over 7 feet
ney ‘the cohinat ie of quartered onk ¢ or sected by two

baie 3 “he bh
iron pedestals, which, as weii as the froutO & (+, Gace betainti
fully marbleized. Weight, 90 pounds.

Old catalogues lead to modern discoveries. One collector found
two of these machines while driving back roads along the Ohio no ar opie bare A ol preamp Eland use of
, Ange c use the automatic ec

River in the summer of 1978. This is a Canda JUMBO GIANT The same allurement is there, but instead of winning

first made in 1897. Author’s Collection. occasionally the player gets his money value in trade
every time, and out of 33 plays the clock wil] deliver 2
checks four times and 8 checks once, making a total of 39
checks for 33 plays. But here is the big money-getting
feature: With each clock we supply free, 100 aluminum
checks lettered °*GOOD FOR 5c IN TRADBP’’ on one side
and any advertising matter you wish on the reverse,
These checks insure you of getting the player’s money
furthermore he will keep the checks in his pocket unt
ready to use them and they will serve as a constant re-
reminder of your place. ot only a trade machine, but
an exceedingly handsome ornament containing a genuine
8-day clock, 10 inches high, 12)s inches wide, 6 inches
deep. Weighs boxed, 20 pounds.

No.8L1198 Automatic Trade Clock. Each. 9 } 5.3 e)
No. 8L99O0P Extra Aluminum Checks. Per 100. $31.08
Per 300........ $2.90 600_..... - 4.40

DON’T VIOLATE THE LAW

A lot of collectors have wondered how the elegant WIZARD
CLOCK was used on a cigar counter. Here’s the whole story
from the 1913 Albert Pick & Co. catalog. Author’s Collection.

Just because an area seems to be
cleaned out of machines doesn’t mean that
it really is, as old coin machines have a
tendency to pop up. Often the best sources
for machines, as we have already seen, are
local antique shops. Most major collectors
have a regular route of antique shops that
they check on a periodic basis, getting to
know the shopkeepers well. Likewise,
many antique dealers have built up a list of
specialized buyers, adding their names to a
card file as they come in and ask for coin
machines. Theoretically, whenever the
dealer gets a coin machine the names on
file are notified. But in practice it rarely
works that way. For one thing, any
antique dealer who learns how to identify,
price and deal in coin machines quickly
picks up a following, with a whole list of
collectors clamoring for the next offering.
It’s a problem for the dealer; who comes
first? It’s a bigger problem for the collec-
tor, as only one can buy while the others
either pass (if the machine is offered) or
completely miss out. Many dealers, upon
acquiring a new machine, prefer to spend
some time identifying their find before
offering it to their customers, and only
then do they put it up for sale.

The best way to beat this numbers
game and increase your chances of getting
a shot at whatever shows up is to contact
the dealer yourself on a consistent basis
rather than wait for a card
or call. Most dealers prefer
this (they don’t mind being
bugged) because it solves
their problem of allocation.
First come first served.
The collectors that seem to
come up with machines all
the time are the ones who
work at it, making frequent
call-backs to the antique
shops on their predeter-
mined route. A personal
example will show you
what I mean. One of my
antique shop routes covers
Western Michigan from
South Haven north to Man-
istee, with personal call-
backs two or three times a
year. One of my most pro-
ductive sources for
machines is an antique
dealer right in the middle
of the run but, unfortunate-
ly for me, the dealer is
often just as productive for
others. The only way to
keep ahead of the pack and
keep the dealer off the
hook at the same time is to
drop in as often as possible
on the chance that there is

THE 100 MACHINES

Set Up Buy/Sell Pipelines

something in the shop worth the effort.
Three previous visits led to nothing, but a
call-back in August of 1978 netted a
Groetchen GOLD RUSH and some coin
machine junk at a cost of $275. The
GOLD RUSH was locked, key missing,
and seemingly had been since the 1940s as
evidenced by the dates on the coins inside.
The exciting part is that this was the first
and for some time the only GOLD RUSH
found and it had come out of the basement
of a rural Michigan store only weeks
before. The original machine was a
resounding failure when it was first intro-
duced at the coin machine show in Chica-
go in January 1933, so it can be expected
that its surviving numbers are quite limit-
ed, for a while even limited to one. Being
there at the right time led to the buy.

The same goes for flea markets. For
coin machines, some flea markets are bet-
ter than others. The wise collector learns
to go to the fleas that are productive,
bringing plenty of money, and moving fast
and, if possible, being the first around the
grounds. The even wiser collector does it
all alone. One of the unfunny funny sto-
ries that often gets told and retold when
collectors get together is about the two
close collector friends from New York
who went to a flea market in Maryland
together. When they got there the grounds
were sO enormous they agreed to split up,

Sadler nei SUN" Amr Se aiid aan =
, gees ore

Wie 2S Saeed aes Sa

each taking a side and meeting in the mid-
dle at the other end before they individual-
ly worked back on the opposite sides, giv-
ing them both a chance to see everything.
After the first pass they were both in high
Spirits, but when each crossed over to
come back over the area first covered by
the other, they learned a lesson they never
forgot. Anytime one of them saw some-
thing they wanted they were informed that
“someone else already owns it” and were
shown their friend’s card. The meeting at
the other end was stormy, and they didn’t
speak to each other again for years.

Sure they were both dealing, and sure
they both got no less than they gave. Yet
they both ended up madder than hell.
Does that sound over-emotional? ‘Hardly!
That’s the way collectors are, and the way
they act. If you want to keep the friend-
ship of a fellow collector don’t travel in
pairs to a flea market, shop or auction. If
you must, or really want to, agree right at
the start to be partners on whatever you
find or want with both of you having the
option to pass before a deal is made. That
way you both have the pick of the litter
and can sell, buy or barter your individual
share of the piece at a later date. You’ve
also preserved a friendship which is more
important anyway.

But ... now that I think of it ... it just
might depend on the machine!

Details: when Buckley picked up the Lion PURITAN BABY VENDOR as their own around 1930 they
chiseled off the reference to “Lion Mfg. Co.” and kept selling the machines, lion’s head and all. Bill
Whelan Collection.

CAILLE’S PURITAN

One of the Smallest Trade Stimulators Made.

The ‘‘Puritan’”’ is a combination machine, very desirable wherever goods are sold. Three revolvong discs bear three
series of numbers from 0 to 9. When coin is deposited and lever pulled down, the discs revolve separately and stop
independently and consecutively, three figures showing with each play.

A cash register is attached to the machine, showing number of coins deposited. Every seventh play goes to the front
cash box. This is the owner’s ‘‘rake-off”’ if machine is placed on shares. Six out of seven coins go to rear cash drawer
to pay for the rewards and also profit to the proprietor. The contents of front compartment can be arranged to show
through a glass plate and five cents, in trade, given for every nickel played and the collection of seventh nickels offered,
if certain numbers appear as ‘000,’ ‘555’, etc.

Premiums may be offered by placing a reward-card under the glass plate, giving from one to ten cigars for three
numbers whose sum will specify odd amounts from 3 to 27; for even figures; for sums over 6 to 10; or for a variety of
other combinations. Rewards can be changed as often as desired. Reward cards for all systems are furnished with
each machine. .

As a Trade Stimulator, the “Puritan” will be recognized as easily a winner. As there are so many combinations
to the numbers, many plans other than those named, may be used to amuse, interest and hold customers. This machine
will pay for itself in five days, from the extra sales it will make when used as a Vender machine only, not
to say anything about what it will do when its many other features are brought into play.

It is an all-metal construction, nickel-plated, and has a truly hand
some appearance. All working parts are made of stamped and malleable
steel. Equipped with a novel mirror so that figures can be seen from
back—no swivel base necessary.

Base is equipped with four feet, leather tipped, raising machine off
counter about an inch.

Caille’s Pavtun Interchangeable for pennies or nickels.

Size, 10x 9x7%inches. Wt., 22 Ibs.
Telegraph Code Word :—Pure

CAILLE’S WINNER DICE

A ‘*Trade Booster’? for Pennies or Nickels but Not
Interchangeable.

Where is there a cigar stand or any store where cigars are sold that does not permit friendly game of dice?
Did you ever stop to think how much more profitable an automatic dice machine would be?

There is no chance for an argument over cocked dice, neither is there an opportunity fot rhe “‘trust-
ing’’ nuisance. Coins must be played to get a shake.

The ‘“‘Winner”’ is made of metal, finished in antique and has a glass globe six inches high.

One of the handsomest and most attractive Automatic Counter Dice Machines that has ever been
offered to the trade is the Winner Dice. As a cigar trade stimulator, it is hard to equal. Customers are
attracted by the little machine and will often play from $1.00 to $2.00 in it; an amount which they

would not otherwise think of spending. It increases the sales of cigars to a greater extent than can be
imagined.

After placing the coin in the slot and turning the knob at the side, the dice shake automatically.

Assorted reward cards are furnished with this machine so that it can be operated with either pennies or
nickels. Caille’s Winner Dice

Size, 12x9x6inches. Wt. 10 lbs.
Telegraph Code Word :—Winner

Two of the most popular collectible trade stimulators are described in detail in the 1916 Caille Bros. catalogue. The WINNER DICE is unique as the machine
that was made longer and by more manufacturers than any other trade stimulator. Author’s Collection.

Z SUOLVINNILS JdVUL,

We’ ve touched all the classic bases,
from basements to antique shops and flea
markets and the normal sources of supply
for old trade stimulators and counter
games. But there are many, many more,
most of which depend on a sixth sense, a
loud mouth and luck. We can’t define
luck, but we can cover the other two, start-
ing with the loud mouth. Probably the best
working tool at your disposal is verbal. If
you have a machine or two and have
decided to collect trade stimulators and
want to find more, talk it up. Some of the
most amazing finds of all have come out
of conversations with family, friends and
Strangers. It’s a great topic of conversa-
tion anywhere: on planes, trains or waiting
rooms. Lots of times someone within ear
shot will flash, and interrupt to say “I
might know where you can find a
machine.” With that you’re on the track of
something, maybe. And maybe not. But
you'll never know unless you pursue it.

Most collectors soon learn to leave a
lot of notes around with people with their
name, address and telephone number.
After writing a dozen or so such notes, col-
lectors usually go to a printer and make up
business cards, often sticking in the picture
of a slot machine, counter game or other
coin machine to graphically show their

THE 100 MACHINES

Forays into Fantasia

ee BE

OS otal
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tn ae, re
4 .
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la) : ag te
te Oh. -—-

A lot of counter game collectors like these little guys a lot. The Bally BABY, left, started
it all in 1936; the Groetchen IMP, center, became the biggest seller in the 1940-195]
period; and the Daval CUB, right, ran it a close second. Gene Foster Collection.

interest. Go to any
coin machine auc-
tion and meet
everybody you can
and you’ll come
back with a pocket-
ful of the cards.
It’ll give you an
idea of what to put
on yours, and you’ll
be in touch with the
experts in the field.
Perhaps you’ll even
line up with a pro-
fessional antique
coin machine deal-
er, the fastest way
to build up a collec-
tion.

After a busi-
ness card comes a
letterhead and then,
for many, local
advertising. it
you’re in a legal
state, no problem.
Just have the local
areal newspaper run
your business card

as a small ad. It’s trickier if you’re not in
a legal state, but not impossible. Stick to
the classified sections in this case, and
don’t say you’re looking for slot machines.
Don’t just say trade stimulators for that
matter, or counter games. Nobody knows
what that means. Just say you’re looking
for coin operated vending machines and
you’ll get a chance at anything that has a
gumball, mint or stick gum dispenser, and
that includes a lot of counter games.

Now the sixth sense, and here you’ve
just got to feel things, take chances, and be
willing to work at it. But, boy, does it pro-
duce. Some examples will demonstrate.
When an Illinois collector heard that a
woman in Peoria was the granddaughter of
a former saloon keeper and still had some
of the old equipment, he checked out the
lead and got a chance to go through the old
saloon effects. A Mills Novelty THE
TRADER card machine and a CHECK
BOY loaded with payout tokens came out
of the search. The cost was somewhat
high, but no one else in the area had any-
thing like them. This happened in the
summer of 1978.

When California collector Bill Whe-
lan saw a heavy plated solid brass dial

Details: the back of the 1902 cast iron Wain & Bryant ZODIAC.
Caille Bros. made it soon after in modified form as the SEARCH-
LIGHT and WASP. An interesting feature is its swivel base. Pho-

tography Larry Lubliner.

with a pointer on it in an antique shop
some years ago he just knew it was a trade
stimulator. But how did it work? Hope-
fully Bill could find out. So he bought it.
Sometime later, when he stuck it on top of
a National cash register it fit perfectly,
with the pointer being spun automatically
by means of a mechanical connection
when the sale was rung up. Whelan had
found the first know example of the Page
SALES INCREASER, one of the cleverest
trade stimulators of its day. It wasn’t until
the author came up with an illustration of
the gadget in a contemporary catalogue
page some time later that the device was
positively identified.

Many collectors have driven by junk-
yards, big trasher yards, antique shops and
other possible source locations only to
wonder if they shouldn’t turn around and
go back. When they did, they found a
machine. That’s the sixth sense at work.
Most times there’s nothing, but sometimes,
the turnaround is worth it. Around 1974 I
found a Kelley THE KELLEY machine
that way in a trash yard sales barn, paying
$30 for it. The sixth sense should also
help to tell you when to buy and when not
to buy. Once, the fall of 1976, I walked
into an antique shop in Wheaton, Illinois,
and the dealer offered me a non-working
Groetchen GINGER for $40. He told me
that the figure was exactly what he had in
the machine (which I regarded as an inter-
esting insight into picker rates) and that he
was willing to part with it at no profit to
get out of it. In that way he would keep
the picker coming back and not suffer a
personal financial loss in doing so. My
eyes told me $40 was too high, but that
sixth sense said go. It didn’t look promis-
ing. The play handle hung limp, the reels
didn’t spin and the key was missing. But I
bought it anyway, if only to keep the deal-
er happy so he’d save machines for me in
the future. I tossed it in a corner when I
got home. But some months later, when I
had a bunch of springs and old keys on
hand, I went back at it. What a change! A
key fit, six strategically placed springs that
were self-evident put the whole machine
back in running order (handle, reels, token
payout and all) and a cleanup made the
machine practically new. It was soon
being used to trade up my collection.

Sometimes the sixth sense fails. It
has failed me a number of times, and I still
can’t forget them. I’ve learned that if you
have any interest at all in a machine and
the cost isn’t completely out of line, buy it!
Sometimes you can’t for lack of cash or
whatever. But if you can’t make the buy
at the moment, verbally wrap up the deal,
or go back when you can. Otherwise it'll
never leave your mind, not for a long time
anyway. I still remember a Pace THE
CARDINAL with the rare false penny
jackpot behind glass that had a number of
Indian-head pennies facing the world. It
was priced at $150 in an antique shop on

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

my call-back route in the summers of
1975, ‘76 and ‘77. I thought it was priced
too high. But a few years of value
increase began to make it look good, so I
went back in 1978 only to find I’d missed
it by a week. That knowledge gnawed at
me for years. Sometimes your sixth sense
will fail you other ways such as making
you get something you don’t really want.
So watch out for mistakes — we all make
them (as my pile of mistake machines will
testify) — as you might end up stuck with a
machine you don’t really like and find it
hard to sell or trade. But one collector’s
goose is another’s gravy, so even your
mistakes will find their market someday.
It’s just annoying to have them around if
you could be using the money for some-
thing else.

It’s when your sixth sense is accom-
panied by knowledge and a willingness to
stick to the search that it really pays off.

Once, driving on business from Chicago to
Moline, Iowa, in the early summer of 1978
I made a stop in Dixon, Illinois, to drop in
on an antique shop. They had nothing, but
sent me to another shop. I almost didn’t
go as I was running behind schedule but
decided one more stop could be justified.
But there was nothing there, only a lead to
an antique dealer who worked out of his
home. Once again I almost didn’t follow
up, and when I couldn’t find the street or
the house I all but gave up. But something
said stick to it, so I did. The house was
two more blocks away, and the antique
dealer had old store cases chuck full of
stuff. At the bottom of one was the rela-
tively rare Ad-Lee TRY IT 5¢ play counter
dice game of 1927 in marvelous condition.
It was priced at $120 (truly a bargain) and
had been in that showcase for years. I was
apparently the first coin machine collector
to make the stop.

‘.

OME MERCHANDISE CHECK WITH EACH cK Mat *
FREE AMUSEMENT FREE MERCHANDI>E

POUR FONNY OF NICKEL RETORSED fF Pacis

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q WINN?

ila 44] 444. } :

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Name your own price! This G.F. Hochriem BOOSTER 3-dimensional horse race token
payout counter game of 1935 has never been found. Photo is from the maker’s advertis-
ing flyer. New discoveries score top dollars. Author’s Collection.

But the classic and oft told tale —
among mechanical bank collectors in any
event — is that of the first find of
McLoughlin GUESSING BANK machines
of 1876, with their discovery almost a cen-
tury later. The McLoughlin bank is actual-
ly a true trade stimulator and saloon
chance machine (it’s the first machine
identified and priced in this book) in spite
of the fact that it was patented as a toy
bank to get around contemporary anti-
gambling regulations. As a result of its toy
bank patent classification the later
mechanical bank collectors adopted it as
their own, except for the fact that there
were none of the machines to adopt. It
was known only through its patent record
and the fact that the device appeared in an
early novelty house catalog of the late
1870s and early 1880s. It was long a mys-
tery machine as the bank collectors
weren’t even sure who manufactured the
coin operated device, or even if any were
made and sold. Advanced collectors were
willing to bid high for an example to coun-
teract the general feeling that it was proba-
bly a forlorn hope.

One of the leading toy bank experts
made the actual discovery, and the story
has become legendary. It was reported in
an article by bank collector and historian
F.H. Griffith in the March 1962 issue of
Hobbies magazine. Griffith titled his arti-
cle “Guessing Bank,” stating, “... we are
fortunate in having considerable back-
ground information due to the man respon-
sible for turning up all known specimens
of the bank.” Griffith went on to say, “Mr.
Mark Haber, the well-known collector and
dealer in mechanical banks, is the individ-
ual who through perseverance found the
first example of the GUESSING BANK
and subsequently the remaining known
examples.”

Griffith had repeatedly been in touch
with Haber about the find, adding “Mr.
Haber has kindly furnished the writer with
the information and circumstances sur-
rounding his locating and obtaining the
GUESSING BANKS. Using his own
words the story is as follows (and here
Griffith quoted his correspondence with
Haber):

“The discovery of these banks was
entirely accidental and unusual, and the
lead was furnished by an old picker who
informed me that he thought he noticed
something that might be a bank or stat-
uette being used as a door stop at a house
in South Windham, Conn. His meager
description of the object and the location
left me no other alternative but to comb
every street in South Windham until I
finally espied the object. It was rusted and
weather-beaten, but unmistakably the bank
patented by E.J. McLoughlin.

THE 100 MACHINES

Some Finds are Legendary

“T had little trouble in purchasing the
bank from the occupants, Mr. and Mrs.
George E. Sherman. Further inquiry
revealed that Mr. Sherman’s grandfather
had purchased the patent rights and had a
number of these banks made up for distri-
bution to jobbers who were to show these
to the trade through their salesmen. To
the best of his recollection, the orders for

these banks were so meager as to make it
an unprofitable venture to to into large
production. Being possibly a gambling
device in the hands of a child it did not
seem to have any appeal.

“Further inquiry on subsequent visits
revealed that there were a few of the banks
left in an old barrel in the original pack-
ings in the fine old stable on the estate.

ONE OR Wine GiCARS

Of EvEiRv UE REL shhantoheceed

Place the “ Daisy”

No Blank on Your

Cigar Counter

If you want a neat inexpensive device to turn a
dead spot on your cigar counter intoa live money
making, trade bringing space buy a Daisy Cigar

Machine.
money’s worth eve
six for a quarter.

Not a gambling device,
time.
ou never jose.

layer gets his

Sells c sat rate of

Take advantage of the above suggestion at once
and let it prove what we claim. Allowed any-

where.

wide.
No. 8@LU 188 Each —..

Size 9 inches high, 9 inches

$3.00

This is the original DAISY “Diamond Top” as illustrated in the 1906 and later Albert

Pick & Company catalogues.

This model was made and introduced by the Hamilton

Manufacturing Company of Hamilton, Ohio. Most surviving machines have the descrip-
tive panel at the bottom missing. Author’s Collection.

Without going into further details, I man-
aged to purchase two or three at each visit
for sums of money plus some fine first edi-
tions which I always brought with me for
Mr. Sherman as gifts. Mr. Sherman col-
lected fine first editions and appreciated
my thoughtfulness.”

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Are there more finds like this waiting
to be unearthed? Probably not as great as
the GUESSING BANK discovery. But
then again, who knows? There are many
trade stimulators and counter games that
are known only from their patents, cata-
logues and advertising. They remain to be

found. Equally, such finds are made every
year, either through original discovery or
through the dispersion of knowledge. In
the latter case, quite a number of collectors
have been pleased to discover that a
machine in their collection turns out to be
rare, or the only known example.

OR
RAL SURES

r=
Vv

> we
Ce ee ks Cb

Rbebiessett
CAKE REE +9

CAILLE’S ROYAL JUMBO
Size 54 x 19 x 17 inches
Weight 9C Ibs.

CAILLE’S JOCKEY
Size 60 x 16 x 12 inches
Weight 70 Ibs.

CAILLE’S CARD MACHINES
OLD STANDARDS

Card machines have
held the front rank in
the line of trade stim-
ulators formany years
past and it seems that
their popularity is
growing stronger each
day.

Madeinmany styles
and at various prices.
Here will be found
some of our leaders.

Our Good Luck,
Banker and Royal
Jumbo are of the one
slot type permitting
one player to play at
The Jockey
is a three way and can

a time.

be played by three

MaRS EMM SO Se oi i ha eo RR
Good Luck with swivel base

Goed Luck, special inlaid cabinet and swivel base

Royal Jumbo

Jockey, floor style ...

CAILLE’S HYLO
Size 49x18x18 inches
Weight 190 Ibs.

persons at one time or
all three slots played
by one person.

On the Quintette
there are five distinct
sets of reels and five
Can be
played by one to five
persons or one may
play one or more slots
at same time.

coin slots.

The Hylo is a draw
poker machine. One
coin operates all five

reels. A second spin

on any reel may be

had by putting an
extra coin in the cor-
responding slot to fill
or draw to a hand.

Jockey, counter style .......

Banker, with swivel base

Quintette

PRICES

CAILLE’S GOOD LUCK
Size 12 x 10% x 8% inches
Weight 10 Ibs.

Reem em eae em
CPS 74 aay —*

CAILLE’S BANKER
Size 15 x 12 x 8 inches
Weight 12 lbs.

CAILLE’S
QUINTETTE
Size 75 x 24 x 12 inches
Weight 150 Ibs.

The Caille Brothers Company

1300-1350 Second Avenue

DETROIT

MICHIGAN

This is a distributor advertising piece for Caille machines circa 1917 pushing its full line, promoting Caille’s card machines as “old

standards.”’ Author’s Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES 57

Reliable Pin Bosna:
Target Practice Machine

Here is a penny machine that has stood the test of time.
A no-blank merchandise and amusement machine. A
great trade stimulator. Stands up year in and year out
and gets the money. Strongly built for tremendous play.
Foolproof trigger securely bolted to cabinet from inside,
will not break, clog or loosen. Solid steel back door with
five holes drilled in for fastening on wall. Pin Board is
made of half-inch redwood, will not warp. Pins mounted
for accurate trade stimulation. Allows operator handsome
profit. Beautifully engraved and decorated nickeled
aluminum cabinet, finished in red, white, and blue. Size:
1514 inches high, 614 inches deep and 11% inches wide,
weight 20 Ibs. Earns its cost back in seven to ten days.
Runs as high as $25 to $35 and up weekly. Sold on ten-
day trial with money back guarantee. ‘Ten of these ma-
chines alone will make an operator a comfortable living.
Order your sample today—or better still order ten ma-
chines and get this free gum deal—there is money in gum
and you know it. Start today building your fortune on
the demand for gum and the idle pennies of others.

Sample Machines $12.50 Each

REE one case (10,000 balls) of Reliable Tasty
Chu Ball Gum given with each order for

Deal 10 Targets. Retail value of gum alone
Good ’till is $100. This offer is made solely to ad-
vertise our Superior Quality Ball Gum—

June 15 offer good till midnight, June 15th—

ORDER NOW!

Reliable Coin Machine Exchange
2035-49 W. Charleston St.
CHICAGO

This Reliable Coin TARGET PRACTICE of 1928 is identical to the earlier National Coin Machine TARGET PRACTICE of 1926, and the
later Buckley TARGET of 1930. They all have the same “antler” style base castings with name changes on the playing field. How come so
many variations of one version? It was the same company changing its name every few years (possibly to keep ahead of the bill collectors?)
and finally sticking with the name Buckley Manufacturing Company. Author’s Collection.

In large measure both volumes of An
Illustrated Price Guide to the 100 Most
Collectible Trade Stimulators and the
companion An Illustrated Price Guide to
the 100 Most Collectible Slot Machines
volumes — as well as subsequent volumes
yet to be created — have a goodly number
of functions. They are designed to go far
beyond mere pricing in order to create
basic interest in the machines, provide
information about the machines known to
exist and offer factual data useful in find-
ing and identifying undiscovered machines
while providing pricing and relative value
benchmarks useful to buyers, sellers, col-
lectors and investors. The series started as
a single book, but the unbounded interest
in coin machines and their history led to
the additional volumes. Were we to do it
over, the initial volume would not have
included both automatic payout slot
machines and counter games, as they often
constitute different areas of collector inter-
est. This initial error in judgment has been
straightened out by including some of the
trade stimulators and counter games con-
tained in the original An Illustrated Price
Guide to the 100 Most Collectible Slot
Machines in this second volume of trade
stimulators, although the illustrations and
descriptive copy for these machines is
completely new. Collectors interested in
these machines will want both volumes in
order to have the fuller and more complete
story.

In terms of pricing the older trade
stimulators tend to be quite valuable due to
their advance age and rarity. Many of the
more modern counter games of the thirties
and forties have yet to find their pricing
levels as their degree of rarity is not yet
fully known. Publication of the data and
pricing in these volumes will ultimately
change all that as a result of increased pop-
ularity and collector wants. For that rea-
son alone pricing updates will be required
in the future. But for now, the prices indi-
cated reflect current values at the time of
publication. It takes this knowledge, plus
your own personal feeling and that sixth
sense, to know what to buy and sell, or
keep in a collection.

Pricing is also dependent upon condi-
tion, particularly important with trade
stimulators and counter games as so many
of them are found in terrible shape. The
“Excellent” counter game is rare, and to
date only a small number have been put
into “Restored” condition. To adjust for
this and to provide pricing data that fits the
machines as you find them, the pricing has
been classified by six degrees of condition
for each machine as follows:

Incomplete
Non-working, missing parts, missing

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

How To Use This Book

graphics, “paper” or decorated glass, rough
or virtually destroyed cabinet. Requires
complete restoration.

Rough

Rough, well-worn, cracked castings,
broken parts of glass, worn off graphics,
but just about everything there.

Fair

Can be made ready to play with minor
adjustment, with general appearance poor
to fair.

Good
Ready to play, but needs some work,
particularly in appearance.

Excellent
Brand new or mint condition with
some wear acceptable.

Restored
Rebuilt and tuned up to mint or even

P OND TINY

~~ ing

\ en aah :
ae

j G JEN aya u

;
se
Rie, .
Pe ahem To
x
aa

better than the original condition.

Most of the machines you find will be
in this list or in the first volume of trade
stimulators. The first volume lists one
hundred machines based on their populari-
ty and their availability, while many of the
machines listed in this volume are quite
rare and are sometimes represented by one
or only a few surviving examples. In all,
they constitute a broad selection of the
most popular collectible trade stimulators
based on play appeal, appearance and
availability.

Each of the machines are illustrated,
described and priced on the following
pages. A variety of sub-models and paral-
lel developments are also described, such
as vending, discount, jackpot, gumball and
other feature models, bringing the total to
almost five hundred machine descriptions.

= OWE

Re |
wer
if

When the author found this 1935 Superior CIGARETTE BUM VENDER in Michigan in
1978 it had a typewritten and shellacked reward card, thus a collectible value drop.
When the dealer who bought it stripped off the homemade card an original reward card
in full color was still there, thus a collectible value rise. Big lesson: always check your
finds from top to bottom, inside and out, before parting with them. Author’s Collection.

a i od all a

wa. 3

THE 100 MACHINES

Manufacturer and Machine

McLoughlin (Winchester) GUESSING BANK
McLoughlin PRETTY WAITER GIRL GUESSING BANK
Weston SLOT MACHINE

World’s Fair COLUMBIAN FORTUNE TELLER
Western Weighing NICKEL TICKLER
American Automatic AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKING MACHINE
U.S. Novelty (Caille) WINNER (DICE)
Amusement Machine COMBINATION "JACK POT"
Western Automatic IMPROVED ROULETTE
Siersdorfer COIN TARGET BANK

Griswold BLACK CAT

Canda BONANZA

Drobisch ADVERTISING REGISTER
Waddel DISCOUNT BICYCLE WHEEL
Drobisch STAR ADVERTISER

Comstock THE PERFECTION

Decatur FAIREST WHEEL No. 2

National (Mills) LITTLE MONTE CARLO
Fey KLONDIKE

Mills LITTLE DUKE

Canda JUMBO SUCCESS

Decatur FAIREST WHEEL No. 3

Bell (Wrigley's) DEWEY

Bennett STUCKEY CIGAR

F.A. Ruff CRAP SHOOTERS DELIGHT
August HOODOO

Kelley FLIP FLAP

Caille QUINTETTE

Caille ROYAL JUMBO

Mills SUCCESS No. 6 (“Little Success’’)
Mills JUMBO SUCCESS No. 6 (“Big Success”)
Wain & Bryant (Caille) ZODIAC

Star STAR TRADE REGISTER

Canda AUTOMATIC CARD MACHINE
Park RED BIRD

Caille JOCKEY

Fey DRAW POKER

Progressive WIZARD CLOCK

Griswold STAR

Dunn WRIGLEY DICE MACHINE

Dunn PERFECTION ("Straight Glass")
Watling DRAW POKER

Bradford LARK

Pana Enterprise NEW IMPROVED FAIREST WHEEL
Royal DICE

Mills CRAP SHOOTER

Page SALES INCREASER

Unit Sales WINNER DICE

Mills PURITAN BELL

National TARGET PRACTICE

Bluebird TARGET

Jennings FAVORITE

Atlas (Graham) MIDGET ROULETTE
Exhibit PLAY BALL

Monarch (Fey) PEE-WEE ROULETTE

Caille JUNIOR BELL (“Style 2’’)

Buckley PURITAN BABY VENDOR

Field BABY VENDOR

H.C. Evans SARATOGA SWEEPSTAKES
Daval CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE

A.B.C. Coin JOCKEY CLUB

Bally CUB

Rock-Ola OFFICIAL SWEEPSTAKES
Groetchen POK-O-REEL GUM VENDOR
Keeney and Sons MAGIC CLOCK

Stock FLYING HEELS

Stephens PENNY DRAW

Groetchen GOLD RUSH

Jennings LITTLE MERCHANT

Produced
1878-1880
1880
1892-1893
1892-1895
1893-1898
1893-1896
1893-1922
1893-1895
1893-1904
1894-1898
1895-1898
1895-1899
1896-1899
1896-1903
1897-1904
1897-1902
1897-1915
1897-1910
1898-1899
1898-1908
1898-1900
1899-1915
1899-1907
1900-1912
1900
1901-1908
1901-1903
1901-1913
1901-1916
1901-1920
1901-1920
1902-1910
1902-1910
1903-1907
1903-1905
1905-1912
1905-1916
1905-1913
1905-1926
1905-1908
1906-1908
1907-1914
1907-1916
1907-1914
1907-1912
1908
1909-1917
1925-1929
1926-1927
1926-1928
1926-1932
1926-1930
1926-1929
1926-1935
1927-1930
1928-1932
1929-1932
1929-1932
1932-1935
1933-1935
1933-1935
1933-1934
1933-1935
1933-1934
1933-1935
1934-1935
1934-1939
1934-1935
1934-1937

seg

Description
Counter Pointer
Counter Pointer
Counter Pinfields
Counter Pointer
Counter Pinfield
Counter Dice
Counter Dice
Counter Pinfield, Pointer
Counter Roulette
Counter Shooter
Counter Wheel
Pedestal Card Reels
Counter Pinfield
Counter Wheel
Counter Pointer
Counter Pinfield
Counter Wheel
Counter Roulette
Counter Pointer
Counter Card Reels
Pedestal Card Reels
Counter Wheel
Counter Pinfield
Counter Wheel
Counter Dice
Counter Wheel
Counter Coin Drop
Pedestal Card Reels
Pedestal Card Reels
Pedestal Card Reels
Pedestal Card Reels
Counter Wheel
Floor Wheel
Counter Card Reels
Counter Wheel
Counter Card Reels
Counter Drop Cards
Counter Coin Drop
Counter Wheel
Counter Dice
Counter Marbles
Counter Drop Cards
Counter Dice
Counter pointer
Counter Dice
Counter Dice
Counter Pointer
Counter Dice
Counter Number Reels
Counter Shooter
Counter Shooter
Counter Shooter
Counter Roulette
Counter Shooter
Counter Roulette
Counter Fruit Reels
Counter Novelty Reels
Counter Fruit Reels
Counter Race Game
Counter Spot Reels
Counter Horse Reels
Counter Wheel
Counter Race Game
Counter Card Reels
Counter Pointer
Counter Wheel
Counter Spot Reels
Counter Disks
Counter Number Reels

60 TRADE STIMULATORS 2
70. 130. Daval WIN-A-SMOKE
tls Wie Mills BLACKJACK
a2. 32, Exhibit GET-A-PACK
vos 333. Daval CENTASMOKE
74. 134. National SMOKES
dos $53. Great States SANDY'S HORSES
76. 136. Garden City TURF
Tes. 137. Garden City GEM THREE OF A KIND
78. 138. A.B.T. PROSIT
79, 439. Groetchen ROYAL FLUSH
80. 140. Groetchen DIXIE DOMINOES
81. 141. Bally LITE-A-PAX
82. 142. Jennings PENNY CLUB
83. 143. Daval BELL SLIDE
84. 144. Daval JOKER
85. 145. Daval JOKER GUM VENDOR
86. 146. Withey SEVEN GRAND
87. 147. Keeney SPINNER WINNER
88. 148. Sanders DEUCES WILD
89. 149. Baker PICK-A-PACK
90. 150. Daval STAR AMERICAN EAGLE
of. “i3, Groetchen IMP
U2. F352, Daval CUB
93. 153; Daval 1940 DIVIDER PENNY PACK
94. 154. Liberty TWINS WIN
95. 155. Sanders LUCKY PACK
96. 156. Sanders LITTLE POKER FACE No. 2
Of. Iss, Shipman SPIN-IT
93. 158. Bradley 7-GRAND
99. 139. Quality Supply HORSES
100. 160. Play-Write PLAY-WRITE

1935-1936 Counter Cigarette Reels
1935-1938 Counter Spot Reels
1935-1937 Counter Cigarette Reels
1936-1939 Counter Cigarette Reels
1936-1937 Counter Cigarette Reels
1936-1940 Counter Race Game
1936-1940 Counter Horse Reels
1936-1940 Counter Cigarette Reels
1936-1938 Counter Disks
1937-1942 Counter Spot Reels
1937-1939 Counter Dice Reels
1937-1939 Counter Lighted Symbols
1938-1940 Counter Cigarette Reels
1938-1939 Counter Fruit Reels
1938-1940 Counter Spot Reels
1938-1941 Counter Spot Reels
1938-1941 Counter Dice
1939-194] Counter Lighted Symbols
1939-1941 Counter Spot Reels
1939-194] Counter Novelty Dice
1940-1952 Counter Novelty Reels
1940-1951 Counter Novelty Reels
1940-1951 Counter Cigarette Reels
1940-1942 Counter Cigarette Reels
1940-1942 Counter Novelty Dice
1941-1950 Counter Cigarette Reels
1941-1950 Counter Spot Reels
1947-1960 Counter Horse Reels
1947-1949 Counter Dice
1949-1951 Counter Dice
1950-1951 Counter Number Reels

The Collection and the Exceptional Collection

The beauty of a trade stimulator is
often restricted to the viewer. Many of
these machines are less than aesthetically
appealing, while others are classics of
craftsmanship and the art of their times.
Some collectors specialize in classic trash,
while others go for cast iron. Most counter
game enthusiasts go for everything. What
you collect and how you display your col-
lection is a very personal thing. Yet much
of the joy of a coin machine collection is
not only in what you have, but the how
and why of acquiring each piece. Collec-
tors have often talked about the possibility
of high-rollers entering the field and
instantly creating the largest collections in

the country — assembled by dint of dough
alone. But big bucks aren’t the only
answer to a diversified and interesting
trade stimulator or counter game collec-
tion. Frankly, the use of money and
money alone is a poor way to start out.
Most of the important collections have
been based on wit and wisdom, and the
willingness to go that extra mile to look
for a machine. Sure, cash helps. But as a
collector, and later as a trader and enthu-
siast “working up” your collection to bet-
ter and better machines, you’ll find that
insight and intuition are far more produc-
tive than a pocketful of green. If you get
out there now and hustle for machines,

make original finds in basements and back
rooms, buy cheap and trade up, you’!l soon
have a collection worthy of admiration by
all. Many of the dedicated collectors feel
that in a decade most of the undiscovered
machines will have been found, making
the trade stimulator and counter game field
a seller’s market. That would have meant
you only had until 1990 to find what was
out there. But that hasn’t happened, which
means you’ ve got well into the next centu-
ry to put yourself on the right side of the
hottest coin machine collectible in the
country. Don’t waste a minute. Gas up
and go!

THE 100 MACHINES

McLoughlin (Winchester)

* ; a 7y of bs - .
4 ¥ | ’ ae .
a2 ok d ¥- .. Rd i
: : ‘ ee eo b
:

bed ¥ OG,

GUESSING BANK

Produced between 1878 and 1880

Metisse ( Wictenen) GUESSING BANK. Edwin H. Mosler, Jr. Collection.

ou’re looking at history, but not the

y kind you read in history books.
Maybe that is why many of them

are so deadly dull. You can read about
wars and laws and strikes and presidents,
but did you every read about a president
marching into a saloon and asking for a
shot and a beer? Think it didn’t happen?
Oh, boy, it sure did, and the day the
GUESSING BANK you are looking at hit
the market the recently past president of
this United States probably filled his cup

more than just a few times. He had both
reason and opportunity. Like it or not,
President Ulysses S. Grant (his detractors
called him “Useless Grant’) was a sot.
He had just been drummed out of his scan-
dal-ridden high office in the 1876 election
and throughout the land it was the Day Of
The Saloon!

1878 was a banner year for booze.
Practically every business corner in most
towns and cities had a saloon astride both
sidewalks, and the business of saloon fix-

tures and soft-core gambling devices was
booming. All sorts of games and chance-
taking machines filled the bartops. For
years you paid the barkeep a nickel, threw
the dice and spun the wheel and got an
over-the-counter payout in cash or beer.
Then a New York City carpenter named
Edward S. McLoughlin got one hellavan
idea. Make the machine take the coins and
other than watching to prevent cheating,
the bartender isn’t involved unless the
player wins. McLoughlin called his 1876
gadget the BANKER WHO PAYS, and
even got a patent on it in 1877 (you can
see it elsewhere in this book). The history
part is that this is the first coin operated
chance machine ever made. And it’s
American!

Maybe McLoughlin didn’t do too
well with his machine. None of the origi-
nals have apparently survived. But a sub-
sequent model is one of the hottest coin
machine collectibles in the country. If
you’ve ever seen one there’s a good rea-
son, and an odd one. McLoughlin sold his
patent rights to an entrepreneur manufac-
turer of South Windham, Connecticut,
around 1878 or so. The buyer took it to
this factory which was the only foundry in
town. Thus it was that the Smith, Winch-
ester and Company — the country’s lead-
ing producer of paper-making machinery
— started turning out the renamed
GUESSING BANK as a pot metal casting
on its down time. That new name side-
tracked collectors for years, and it became
known as an early cast iron toy bank. The
One in this photograph is from the mar-
velous bank collection of Edwin H.
Mosler, Jr.

The machine isn’t much fun. For one
thing, it’s very small. But heavy. You
drop a nickel in the man’s head; it hits an
arm behind the pointer and spins an arrow
on the porcelain dial. If you called the
number it stops on before you played, it’s
a five-to-one payout by the bartender. A
latched cash box in the base keeps the
coins.

The discovery of the only known
examples of the GUESSING BANK by
bank collector Mark Haber in the late
1940s is a classic. If you missed it in the
editorial section of this book, go back and
read it. It’s an inspiration. Educated
guesses suggest somewhere around a
dozen of these machines exist, mostly in
the hands of toy bank collectors who are
largely unaware of their gambling origin,
although many of them have suspected it
for years. A typical serial die stamped in
the casting is 46, but some examples go
over 100.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

McLoughlin

PRETTY WAITER GIRL GUESSING BANK

his small, virtually unknow and
rare-as-hell gadget is regarded by
the few people that have seen it in
the flesh, so to speak, as the most charm-
ing coin-operated gambling machine ever
made. It is a saloon trade stimulator and,
for some, a stimulator of other sorts. It
doesn’t stand a foot high, yet the
McLoughlin PRETTY WAITER GIRL
GUESSING BANK is the collectible of
choice for some of the biggest collectors in
the country. But they can’t lay a glove on
it. Only one example is known for posi-
tive, and it’s tucked away in a private col-
lection in the east. Even finding a picture
of it was almost as tough as finding the
machine, and for this shot we are indebted
to Larry Lubliner. He won’t say where he
got it.

As unknown as this piece is, it was
described in great detail as a cast iron toy
bank in the April 1972 issue on Hobbies.
Even then some suspicion of its true origin
was evidenced, with esteemed bank writer
F.H. Griffith saying: “The somewhat
enticing figure of the girl is a rather well
endowed type, typical of the time, with the
Lillian Russell hourglass touch. The
woman’s figure would seem a little ques-
tionable with respect to being a child’s toy
saving device.” Right on target F.G.!

Cupidity isn’t the drive behind this
toy; it’s pure chance and raunch. The let-
tering in the casing sets the tone, saying
“GUESSING BANK. PAYS FIVE FOR
ONE/IF YOU CALL THE NUMBER.”
Everything else is the same as the man-in-
the-chair GUESSING BANK, so it was
made about the same time and for the
same reason. What isn’t known is who
made it. The device is painted white pot
metal like the Winchester GUESSING
BANK, but there’s no patent date or serial
numbers. It could just be that the PRET-
TY WAITER GIRL GUESSING BANK is
one of the original McLoughlin machines,
or that Winchester didn’t make many.
Other possibilities exist. Maybe a lot were
made and sold — even outselling the man-
in-the-chair — and remain to be discov-
ered. Maybe the surviving stock was
tossed out and remelted when the puritani-
cal Victorian Age came along because its
owners didn’t want to have a girl like that
around the house. As secretive as the
whole story is we do know that the first
example of the PRETTY WAITER GIRL
GUESSING BANK was “found” some-
where by a toy bank collector named
Frank Ball, and that there’s a rumor that a
second had surfaced in the early 1980s.

How can we be so Sure these are
saloon pieces and gambling devices rather

Produced in 1880

Hd ose ete crs
eee ee
carta

es KEG
oo PTR
ME o> f° Sr-y-
- my

> 2’
pie

Mcloughlin PRETTY WAITER GIRL GUESSING BANK. Courtesy Larry Lubliner.

than banks? That leads to a third version.
One of the first serious toy bank
researchers was a guy named Louis H.
Hertz. He typed up his findings in a
monograph that bank collector Mark
Haber published in a limited numbered
edition in 1947. In it, Hertz talks a lot

about the GUESSING BANK, and adds,
“A similar figure exists cast in white
metal, but with the wheel indications refer-
ring to drinks.” Wow! DRINKS! Exists
... where? Now that we coin machine col-
lectors know what these things are and
what they look like, let’s find them!

e jump a dozen years ahead to
get to the next trade stimulator.
That gives you some idea of how

far the McLoughlin and Winchester
GUESSING BANKS were ahead of their
times. By the early 1890s coin machines
were just beginning to hit their stride, and
after that they proliferated. 1890 was real-
ly the breakaway year, with the Clawson
AUTOMATIC DICE machine (described
in the volume 1 Trade Stimulators book)

Weston SLOT MACHINE. Tom Gustwiller Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES

Weston

SLOT MACHINE

Produced between 1892 and 1893

setting the pace. Copycat machines soon
followed, both similar and unique. Per-
haps the most unique take off on the Claw-
son machine was a trade stimulator made
by the Weston Slot Machine Company of
Jamesville, New York, which they simply
called the Weston SLOT MACHINE.

The Weston SLOT MACHINE is
similar to the Clawson AUTOMATIC
DICE in that it is a tall, bartop device with
an exposed working wind-up clockwork

mechanism that goes into action to drive a
double play feature once a nickel is
dropped in the slot. But there the similari-
ties end for the Weston offers its own
unique entertainment and one that was
apparently copied by no one else. Instead
of two dice cups that are thrown the West-
on operated two miniature bagatelle
games. Once a coin is dropped the
exposed clockworks automatically begin
to grind and an eccentric cam lowers two
miniature pinfields until they are almost
horizontal. Then the two playing fields
are lifted forward with two small ball bear-
ings in each one dropping down through
the pins to come to rest in one or more of
the numbered pockets at the bottom of
each pinfield. The pockets in each field
are number from | to 6, and the player
adds up the totals to get the playing score.
The big winners — paid off in cigars
according to the marquee on top of the
machine — are four ones or four sixes,
with most scores paying one cigar. The
whole thing is pretty delicate to have on a
bar so it probably wasn’t popular for long,
if at all.

The Weston SLOT MACHINE has
other distinctions, ranging from elusive-
ness to historical interest. There isn’t
much on the machine that reveals its ori-
gins other than the notations “Weston Slot
Machine Co. makers” and “Pat. Apld’
for” suggesting a patent. But alas, that
was not to be, for no patent seems to have
been issued. That left only the company
name to trace. It took the author years to
track it down, and that’s where the histori-
cal interest part comes in. The manufac-
ture and date almost came by accident, and
revealed a business connection that bog-
gles the mind. While tracking down
another 1892 machine made by the W. A.
Smith and Company of Providence, Rhode
Island, the old company records said,
“Formerly Weston & Smith, Syracuse.” In
Syracuse, New York, the records showed
that former partner Irving A. Weston
formed his own I.A. Weston And Compa-
ny to make bicycle wheels with his brother
Henry D. Weston, with the Westons brid-
fly making their slot machines on the side
in the small shop in suburban Jamesville.
After Henry died in 1893, his widow sold
her share of the bicycle wheel business out
from under Irving to a man named Mott.
Mott’s son moved the business to Utica,
then to Michigan, to make wheels for
Oldsmobile and Cadillac. When General
Motors was formed, C.S. Mott became its
largest stockholder: GM coming out of
slot machines! That’s incredible!

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

World’s Fair

COLUMBIAN FORTUNE TELLER

ne quick glance at the COLUM-
(es FORTUNE TELLER might
just be no more than that, at which
point you could conceivable pass it by. It
looks like something out of the early thir-
ties with its colorful recessed dial and
spinning arrow. Another 1930s indicator
is its coin slide rather than a slot. It has
the look of something A.B.T. or Keystone
Novelty might have made around 1933
that might not have been too successful.
Unless you’re really into thirties’ counter
games, its appearance is hardly a turn on.
Which just goes to show that no mat-
ter where your specific interests lie, you’d
better count on the fact that you don’t
know much until you just about know it
all. This game is a great example. It’s an
automatic token payout cast iron machine
made in 1892. That’s 1892! The first
example was found in Kentucky in the
summer of 1977 by a Des Plaines, Illinois,
collector name Pete Hansen. The machine
name was the tip off. Even though it
looked thirtyish, the name COLUMBIAN
FORTUNE TELLER was very uncharac-
teristic. If the machine name had been
CARD SPINNER or PICK-A-NUMBER
or something like that Pete never would
have picked it up. But COLUMBIAN! It
had an 1890s sound to it, so he lifted it.
And it was heavy, very heavy. A closer
look told the finder what he had. The
lithographed graphics are as clear as the
day they were printed. The center of the
flat dishlike dial says, “The
COLUMBIAN FORTUNE TELLER/The
World’s Fair Slot Mach. Co./No. 50 Mid-
dle St./Bridgeport, Conn.” Right off the
bat you’ ve got a date provided you know a
little history. The only World’s Fair that
ever had the name “Columbian” associated
with it was The World’s Columbian Expo-
sition in Chicago in 1893, with its name
promoted and ballyhooed like crazy
between 1891 and the end of the fair in
October 1893, with follow-up a long time
afterward. More intensive research dates
it farther. The truly remarkable — for its
day — coin slide carries the notation “Pat.
May 31, 1892.” The government patent
records show it to be Patent No. 475,899
issued to John Schofield of New York City
for a “Fraud-Preventive Device For Slot
Machines,” making it one of the earliest
mentions in print of the name “Slot
Machine.” Significantly, the patent appli-
cation is dated December 10, 1891. Stick-
ing with the John Schofield name (an
important man in early vending machines)
another patent was unearthed, No.
503,686. Bingo! It’s the patent for this
machine, applied for on December 1, 1892

Produced between 1892 and 1895

World’s Fair COLUMBIAN FORTUNE TELLER. Pete Hansen Collection.

and issued on August 22, 1893. Only this
time Schofield is listed as living in Bridge-
port, so it was probably his company.

The machine is marvelous. You slide
in a nickel, and the pointer spins, stopping
at one of 18 numbers. You get your for-
tune told, plus a trade check for 5¢ or even
higher to buy a beer or set up drinks for
the house. Why beer? Because this is a
saloon piece; the fortunes prove it. No.
11 says “Rum is your worst enemy.” To
keep the play going No. 16 says, “The
next nickel will be lucky.” The prize is
No. 7: “A virgin will grace thy bridal
bed.”

The first one found was serial number
5278. A second one was found by another

collector in the summer of 1978, serial
5272. There’s at least four more.

THE 100 MACHINES

Western Weighing

NICKEL TICKLER

ae . * es wth s “we N oe?
MeO ET t

Cy aee i oats
BOP e's S
Pee Aa eT ere

Western Weighing

harles T. Maley, the 1890’s tobacco

and cigar wholesaler of Cincinnati

turned slot machine maker first
mentioned in the Volume 1 Trade Stimula-
tor book, was a terrific salesman. Not
only was he the first tobacconist to gain
national recognition for his cigar premium
coin machines, he was also the first coin
machine maker to give his machines high-
ly promotional names. The Maley NICK-
EL TICKLER of 1892 started both trends.
It is a simple wooden cabinet coin drop
device in which a nickel dances down over
brass pins nailed to a backfield, all behind

Produced between 1893 and 1898

glass, to finally land in one of seven com-
partments below the pinfield which are
individually numbered 2-1-1-1-1-1-2, with
the “2” slots almost impossible to hit. The
player got as many cigars as the compart-
ment number behind the resting nickel
indicated. The “tickle” part was watching
the coin bounce all over the pinfield before
finally coming to rest at the base. The
idea was brand new and the players loved
it. Maley used the machine for his own
cigar sales, and sold the machine outright
under his own name through advertising in
The National Police Gazette and widely

distributed mail order catalogues for his
Charles T. Maley Novelty Company.

All of that is traceable. It isn’t easy,
surely, but it is a matter of printed and
public record, provided you can find it.
As a result, the collectors that knew about
the machine fully expected the first living
and breathing example to carry the Maley
nameplate. But it didn’t. When the author
finally found one after checking collec-
tions all over the country — locating it in
River Forest, Illinois, only a thirty-minute
drive away from home — the brass name-
plate was for the Western Weighing
Machine Company of Cincinnati, an even
older firm that was founded in 1889. The
NICKEL TICKLER doesn’t look that old,
but it just might be. Later digging
revealed old ads for the machine being
sold by Bott Bros. of Columbus, Ohio,
Hudson-Moore in New York and other
firms. A typical serial for an early West-
ern Weighing NICKEL TICKLER is 315,
with the serial number die-stamped on the
brass coin slot plate.

The success of the NICKEL TICK-
LER led to many imitations with the sim-
ple coin drop becoming a cigar machine
standard. Maley continually improved the
machine, with NICKEL TICKLER No. 2
of 1893 elegantly trimmed with nickel-
plated castings on the top, sides and base,
surmounted by an elaborated marquee
with winning and losing pockets. NICKEL
TICKLER No. 3 of 1894 added additional
reward cards for eight different games
including straight gambling play with
counter cash payouts, the latter made in 1¢
and 5¢ play as PENNY TICKLER and
NICKEL TICKLER.

Examples of all models are known,
and all tend to be rare. An interesting fea-
ture of this machine is the fact that the
coin chute is tilted, thus eliminating any
possiblity of coin manipulation or side-to-
side flipping when you play it.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

American Automatic
AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKING MACHINE

very impressive, and the game is over

in an instant. Yet this diminutive dicer
and the many others like it are the early
classics of trade stimulator collecting. To
many collectors, these old saloon dice
games are kingpin pieces, and in their
opinion no trade stimulator collection is
worth a damn unless a Victorian Age dicer
is included.

The first Trade Stimulator volume
barely touched on these ancient machines,
but in this second volume we’ll make up
for that. They were originally passed by
editorially because they are really quite
esoteric. To the uninitiated they hardly
seem worth the money they command.
But to the true trade stimulator enthusiast,
they are golden, and practically worth
committing anything short of serious
crime.

The American Automatic AUTO-
MATIC DICE SHAKING MACHINE is
just about the oldest, and most desirable.
The thing that is so neat about it is the
bentwire plunger just over the coin slot on
some models, a fairly unique “handle” for
any slot machine. The brass plate with the
coin slot in this example carries the die-
stamped lettering “Drop One Cent In
Slot/Push Upright Bar Down” with the
reward card paper stuck on front saying
“REWARDS/FOR CERTAIN THROWS.”
The award paper is just glued to the metal
case — remember, these machines were
cheap in their day, and certainly not made
to last a lifetime — carries the sellers
name, saying, “American Automatic
Machine Co., Room 712, Bennett Build-
ing, Nassau Street, New York City.” But
here’s the tricky part. Of the half-a-dozen
or more of these machines that survive in
collections, each one is different, either in
small details, or big. Another one virtually
identical to the one in the photograph car-
ries a brass nameplate for the American
Automatic Machine Co. in Room 712 on
Nassau Street, plus a paper panel that says,
“Automatic Manufacturing Company, 655
First Avenue, New York.” Still a third ver-
sion is shown in detail in the Hudson-
Moore catalog sheet produced in the edito-
rial secion of this book. Hang on; we’re
just beginning! A Scarsdale, New York,
collector has one that is just about the
same, only his has a flat top plunger
instead of the bentwire bar. Other identi-
cal machines showing different name-
plates in both bentwire and plunger ver-
sions were advertised by Samuel Nafew
Co. in 1896 and 1897.

Exciting as this machine is in itself,
it’s the paper and the company name

I: small. It’s simple. It isn’t really

Produced between 1893 and 1896

graphics on newly discovered examples
that create the most excitement. Can you
find one? Why not; the editorial section of
this book tells about a neophyte collector
that found one in the basement of an old

American Automatic AUTOMATIC DICE. Bill Whelan Collection.

hardware store in his own town, getting it
for peanuts. The graphics on that example
added the name Ogden, so you never
know what you’ II find.

THE 100 MACHINES

U.S. Novelty (Caille)

WINNER (DICE)

Produced between 1893 and 1922

U.S. Novelty (Caille) WINNER (DICE). Bill Whelan Collection.

t least two decades before coin
A necnines were being made the

mechanical dicer was a common
sight in saloons and pool halls. It was usu-
ally a tall glass dome on a wooden or
metal base with anywhere from two to five
dice under the glass, depending on the
game. Sticking out of the base was usual-
ly a hand-operated lever, plunger or dial

connected to a platform kicker that agitat-
ed the dice to simulate a throw. When the
coin-operated machine came along, all that
was needed was the addition of the coin
slot, a coin releasing mechanism and a
cash box. Virtually everlybody tried their
hand at it, and there are dozens of different
kinds of coin-operated dicers from the
early 1890s.

The one that stands out as the most
popular is the one that lasted the longest,
being sold as a new machine longer than
any other slot machine ever made, before
or since. It was introduced by the U. S.
Novelty Company, one of the first Chica-
go coin machine producers, in 1893. The
mechanism is very simple, and reliable,
and the cabinet was easily assembled out
of highly decorated cast-iron sides. They
called it WINNER. These machines are
quite rare and very valuable. They were
made in penny and nickel play. A typical
serial is 1955.

When U. S. Novelty went defunct in
the middle 1890s the machine was picked
up and produced by other makers, finally
ending up with Caille Brothers Company
in Detroit, who made it between 1907 and
the early 1920s as WINNER DICE, with
payout indicated in cigars. Play was I¢
and 5¢ and the cast iron cabinet design is
virtually identical to the U. S. Novelty
original. Watling also made WINNER
DICE. Then, when Caille stopped, a raft
of smaller producers came out with their
own versions, often adding casting trim in
the form of their company name. Key-
stone Novelty and Manufacturing Compa-
ny in Philadelphia started making the
machines as the Keystone WINNER
around 1924, producing the cabinet in alu-
minum in 1¢, S¢ and 10¢ play. The Unit
Sales Corporation, located in unlikely Lin-
coln, Nebraska, started making the
machine in both cast iron and aluminum as
WINNER DICE in 1925, and not much
later the Southern Novelty Company in
Atlanta, Georgia began to make the dicer
in aluminum as CHUCK-O-LUCK, with
the IMPROVED CHUCK-O-LUCK made
for dime play coming out in 1926. And
that is not all as they keep cropping up.
Newly discovered machines continue to
add new company names. Obviously,
WINNER was a winner!

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Amusement Machine
COMBINATION “JACKPOT”

Produced between |
‘sit a

ou are looking at what was thought

\ to be the only know surviving
example of a machine that has ded-

icated trade stimulator collectors biting
their nails. And would you believe it, this
almost pristine example of the unique
Amusement Machine Company COMBI-
NATION “JACKPOT” isn’t even in a coin
machine collection. It’s part of the wall
display of a theme restaurant in Louisiana.

There’s quite a story behind this
machine, and the others that grace the
walls of this eatery. It seems that when
the restauranteur was putting his establish-
ment together he decided he wanted some
local atmosphere, and aimed for a Missis-
sippi River steamboat decor. So he went
to auctions to pick up old riverboat junk,
bidding on wholesale lots. Piled in with a
lot of Old Man River stuff was a bunch of
old countertop slot machines that had been
operated on the boats. The buyer was told
that this particular pile of stuff dated from
the pre-Civil War era, so up they went on
the restaurant walls as pieces from the
1860s.

One balmy evening Cincinnati gam-
bling paraphernalia collector Bob Rosen-
berger strolled into said restaurant with a
business associate and sat down to one of
his famous hearty meals. After a few
pops, and once the steak was ordered, Bob
went to the salad bar, piled up his plate,
poured on the salad dressing and looked at
the wall. He damn near dropped his plate.
He didn’t know what he was looking at,
but he knew whatever they were — and
there are about a half-a-dozen different
old machines from the early 1890s on dis-
play on small shelves supported by chains
— they were rare, and old, and unique.
After seeing this vision of coin machine
loveliness, he couldn’t eat another bite.

Since that time Bob, and wads of
other people, have hit on the restauranteur
to sell the machines, but the owner stead-
fastly refuses to give up his “Civil War”
momentos and end up with two blank
walls. So there they sat for years until one
dealer finally cracked the sale. Since the
discovery was made, and once collectors
knew what a whole new assortment of
really old machines looked like, every sin-
gle one of them were soon found else-
where — except one! That was this
machine, thought to be called PERFECT;
the machine name was known from an old
catalogue but the maker remained uniden-
tified.

Then collector-dealer Larry Lubliner
of Highland Park, Illinois came up with
one found in Wisconsin in the fall of 1979.
This time around astute coin machine col-

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lectors got a chance to see this incredible
mechanism. It’s early, and crude, but
clever as the dickens. For every coin
played that doesn’t win, a clockwork
pointer advances a notch one at a time up
to 75. If the coin goes into one of the two
winning pockets, the payoff is made
according to the paper, which reads,
“FREE CIGARS. When coin goes in
either pocket you are entitled to number of
cigars indicated by pointer.” That way the
merchant got a nickel for every cigar, and
some lucky player hit a cigar bonanza.
Lubliner’s machine added more knowl-
edge, too. It has a nameplate saying,
“Amusement Machine Company, 587
Hudson St., NY.,” identifying it as one of
the few known machines made by the first
full-line slot machine producers in the
country, and as such, a very historical
machine.

893 and 1895

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Amusement Machine COMBINATION“JACK POT. Courtesy Larry Lubliner.

Since then an actual Amusement
Machine Company mailer has been found
that identified it as the COMBINATION
“JACKPOT” with the PERFECT name
assigned to a Clawson machine. That is
how knowledge is assembled, by the inch-
és.

THE 100 MACHINES

Western Automatic

IMPROVED ROULETTE

Western Automatic IMPROVED ROULETTE. ChicagoLand Show, March 1985.

he principle of the roulette game
"| farctea coin machine makers

from the very beginning, both
because it had long been a well-known
chance game format and because it is rel-
atively simple to mechanize, at least at its
disc-and-ball-spinning level. It would be
a decade before slot machine makers fig-
ured out how to create an automatic-pay-
out coin-operated roulette game, and until
that was achieved the roulette principle
reigned supreme as one of the best known
trade stimulator formats.

Hudson-Moore in New York appar-
ently made it first as the AUTOMATIC
ROULETTE countertop trade stimulator
with a circular paper reward card in the
center of the roulette wheel that say “Free
Cigars,” with payouts of from zero to five
cigars, depending in which hole the free
spinning ball bearing lands. The disc
spinning mechanism is in a circular oak
and metal cabinet about nine inches high,
with the action taking place under clear
glass. The weight of the coin releases a

lever which is pushed down to quickly
spin the disc. Only a few of these circu-
lar machines exist.

The original mechanism was easily
manipulated for free plays and jammed or
otherwise screwed up, so a sturdier mech-
anism was worked out. At that point
everybody got into the act, with Hudson-
Moore making the IMPROVED AUTO-
MATIC ROULETTE while _ the
IMPROVED ROULETTE was made by
over half a dozen producers. The newer
model was housed in an oak box from ten
to eleven inches square, around seven
inches tall, with castings and trim as well
as marvelously detailed decals, depend-
ing on the manufacturer. The circular
reward card still says “Free Cigars” under
glass, with the coin slots and push levers
varying from one maker to another.

IMPROVED ROULETTE was made
by Clawson, Maley, The Leo Canda
Company in Cincinnati, the Mansfield
Brass Works in Mansfield, Ohio, and
other eastern producers. Machines also

Produced between 1893 and 1904

carry the nameplates of The Kernan Man-
ufacturing Company and Ogden And
Company, both of Chicago; Samuel
Nafew Co. of New York and Chicago;
and T.J. Nertney of Ottawa, Illinois; with
most surviving machines made by The
Western Automatic Machine Company of
Cincinnati. Sadly, most of the surviving
IMPROVED ROULETTE machines are
in poor condition with stamped brass or
decal nameplates missing so it’s often
hard to tell whose machine you’ ve got. A
typical serial number is 30, die-stamped
in the oak cabinet at the back.

70 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Siersdorfer
COIN TARGET BANK

Produced between 1894 and 1898

e’re back in business with the

W mechanical toy bank people, or

more accurately, they’re back in
business with us. Here’s another one of
these amazing machines that first seemed
to be a child’s toy bank when in reality it
is a gambling device. As chance machine
collectors, we’re all probably lucky that
this identification error was made years
ago, because if it hadn’t been, these great
trade stimulators might have been lost for-
ever. Proof of that pudding is the fact that
the only examples known are, or were, in

toy bank collections.

This beautiful example of the Siers-
dorfer COIN TARGET BANK is in the
Edwin H. Mosler, Jr. Collection. The art-
fully lighted picture was taken by New
York area coin machine collector Ken
Rubin, and you can just about make out
the lettering in the front end casting. What
it says is, “THE HILLMAN/COIN TAR-
GET BANK/Mfe’d By/M. Siersdorfer &
Co./Cin. O.” It’s that word “Bank” that
missleads, but it was meant to. Back in
1894, the idea of gambling and slot
machines was bad berries to a lot of peo-
ple, so when straight manufacturers got
into the business they liked to cover their
tracks. Siersdorfer seemed to be as
straight as they come, making bottle stop-
pers, apple corers, ink wells and towel
holders. And “Banks.” Or so it seemed.
Research proves otherwise. Old National
Police Gazette ads in 1894 show “M.
Siersdorfer & Co., Cin’ti, O.” as offering
“3 Slot Machines Free” to anyone who had
saloon and cigar store contacts and wanted
to act as a Siersdorfer sales agent. Old .

R.G. Dun & Co. financial reference books é Wes a grees ee *'eS
for 1894 list Siersdorfer _ making Sieraioree COIN TARGET BANK. Edwin H. Mosler, Jr. Collection.
‘Wholesale Patent Novelties,” and Cincin-

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between 1890 and the end of 1894. COIN TARGET BANK ready for play.
The real clinchers come from other Sol say we should keep all little children
sources. The “Hillman” machine (whoev- out of those saloons and teach them to

er Hillman was; I’ve never been able to _ save their money in a sock.
find out) is advertised as the COIN TAR-
GET BLANK (the latter a typo for
“BANK’’) in the 1897 Samuel Nafew Co.
catalogue along with their slot machines.
The description is great, and proves its
use. “Place your coin in the pistol, take
aim and shoot. If it goes through one of
the three openings you will be rewarded
according to number of cigars called for
on the prize card which we furnish with
each machine.” Little kids shooting pen-
nies for cigars? Banks, my behind! But the
prize winner is an old saloon interior phot-
graph from 1898 that I picked up a while
back. Sitting next to a Sittman & Pitt
MODEL card machine is a Siersdorfer

hen you got it, flaunt it! In mar-
keting and promotion, that idea
is as Old as the hills; it goes back

a long way. Rare is the coin machine idea
that hit it big that wasn’t spun off into
another idea or two, or three. Equally rare
is the spin-off idea that hit it as big as the
original, or even came close. The Gris-
wold BLACK CAT is a good example.
The large automatic payout slot
machine collectors hardly know the Gris-
wold name, but the trade stimulator collec-
tors accept it as part of their jargon. With-
Out question, the most common really old
trade stimulator is the Griswold WHEEL
OF FORTUNE of 1893 and years after-
ward as described in the first volume of
this, “An Illustrated Guide to 100 Col-
lectible Trade Stimulators” series. Milton
O. Griswold — a Rock Island, Illinois,
machinist— made quite a name for him-
self in the early 1890s with the machine
and continued to do so for years ahead as
evidenced by the Griswold STAR,

THE 100 MACHINES

Griswold
BLACK CAT

Produced between 1895 and 1898

described in later pages of this volume.
But between the popular half-wheel
machines of the 1890s and the 1920s,
Griswold tried a few other ideas that didn’t
come off as well, and in so doing, created
some of the most desirable Griswold col-
lectibles of all.

The original Griswold WHEEL OF
FORTUNE idea of 1893 consisted of a
heavy cast iron flywheel in a box with a
decorated wheel on its face. The wheel
was spun by pushing down a lever on the
front of the machine that was released for
play when a coin was dropped in the slot.
Only the top half of the spinning disc was
exposed, with a stop arm at the top indicat-
ing the winning (or most often, losing)
number for a single or multiple cigar pay-
off. A year or two after Griswold’s
machine started to hit the cigar stores,
saloons and barber shops of America, Gus-
tav F.W. Schultze in San Francisco and
Daniel N. Schall in Chicago started mak-
ing the first of the nationally popular auto-

matic payout counter wheel coin machines
that really started the slot machine boom
of the middle and late 1890s. Already
having a patent on a trade stimulator that
looked a lot like the Schultze and Schall
machines — although it was smaller and
didn’t make a payout — Griswold aped
the big guys and came out with the
BLACK CAT. It’s probably the best look-
ing Griswold ever made, both because of
its full-face decorated wheel and its mar-
velously detailed directions and reward
card frame castings.

Particularly unique is the play handle
on top — not on front — of the machine.
You grip it with your thumb and forefinger
and squeeze the two together after drop-
ping a coin. The directions say “Drop
nickel in slot, press lever up and let fly
back.” But watch it. This little scissors
grip devil has a nasty way of nipping your
fingertips. Maybe that’s why it is a fairly
rare piece.

about coin machines might take the

Canda BONANZA to be a gas-fired
backyard outdoor barbeque at first glance.
It has the same pot-bellied look and is
made of the same cast iron. Who says that
industrial art doesn’t repeat itself?

It is that distinctive pot-belly cabinet
that makes the Canda bonanza such a
desirable machine; that, and its name.
Unless you really know your cast iron, it is
difficult to tell the floor pedestal card
machines apart. If you think in dollars it
almost doesn’t make much difference as
most of them go for just about the same
money. But if you’re into the aesthetics of
the really old machines, there’s a great
deal of difference between one machine
and another, oh my yes. What really
makes the Canda so neat is the fact that it
is the product of the first producer that
really popularized this machine class.

The BONANZA isn’t nearly as well
known as its older sister, the Canda SUC-
CESS. Actually, it’s a trasition machine
and didn’t last as long. Where the older
“Tron Card’? machines — the generic class
name for these machines in their heyday
— slid their coins down to a cash box in
the base, the BONANZA kept its coins in
its deep cabinet. Later models of the
SUCCESS did the same thing.

One nice touch on the machine illus-
trated is the original marquee, a cast iron
frame held on by bolts from the inside that
acted as a frame for the reward card.
Sadly, many of the old card machines that
are found have this highly decorative piece
missing. That’s the bad news part. The
good news part is that a wide variety of
these old plated cast iron frames have been
recast from originals, so no old Iron Card
machine needs to go on display without a
header.

The next problem is the paper. This
too has been reprodeced, but generally for
Mills or Caille Bros. machines. Only
recently has the Canda panel been repro-
duced by Bill Whelan, probably because
so few in good condition exist. But when
old marquee paper finds are made they are
sometimes made in multiples. It has hap-
pened often enough to indicate an active
policy of the past. Some lucky collectors,
removing their marquee for replacing or to
get a good look at the condition of their
reward card, have found one, two or even
three more cards in practically brand new
condition underneath, often with slightly
different payouts indicated. It seems the
factory often supplied a variety of cards so
the owner could run it under anyone of a
number of “plans.” There’s no better way

S omeone who didn’t know anything

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Canda
BONANZA

Produced between 1895 and 1899

Canda BONANZA . Tom Gustwiller Collection.

to protect paper over the years, so if
you’ve never peeked under your original
marquee, take a look.

Incidently, the price of a new Canda
BONANZA in 1898 was $14.

THE 100 MACHINES

Drobisch

Fhe

ADVERTISING REGISTER

Produced between 1896 and 1899

Drobisch ADVERTISING REGISTER. Photography by Ken Rubin.

hen you take your first look at an
old slot machine or trade stimu-
lator, you get a quick impres-

sion. If you’ve fooled around with this
stuff long enough, you can practically date
it within a five to ten year time frame and,
based on its design details, even name the
manufacturer. There has been enough old
catalog reprinting and fanzine press in The
Coin Slot and other publications to

acquaint most serious collectors with the
general run of machines. I’m not saying
it’s easy, but before you know it, you
know more than you think you do.

Until you get the first look at a really
strange machine, particularly if it looks
unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.
What do you do then? Guess? That’s a
poor approach to machine identification,
but sometimes — if there is no other alter-

native — it’s the only way to go. But
make guesswork the last step if at all pos-
sible, because your guess becomes the
next collectors’ “fact,” and suddenly it
starts enduring as oral and ultimately, writ-
ten history. We’re facing enough of that
early collector guesswork already, with a
lot of it polluting the atmosphere for the
serious researcher. I won’t even suggest
how misleading it can be in a buying or
selling situation, and what it can mean in
terms of the price paid vs. actual value,
both up or down. That’s one of the major
reasons why these illustrated price guides
were created, both to identify known
machines and provide a platform for the
identification of the unknown models.
Someday virtually all antique coin
machines will be identified, but at the rate
the mavericks are still showing up, it’s
obvious that will take a long time.

No matter! The machine itself can
usually tell you a lot, even if it is a strange
one. The Drobisch ADVERTISING REG-
ISTER is a classic example. When Illinois
collector Allan Pall picked up the example
illustrated, he wondered what it was. Sub-
sequent digging proved it to be exactly
what it said it was on the machine. The
beautifully colored and detailed printed
graphics for Weimer’s Perfecto Cigars
under the pin field has a small, printed
panel at the top that says, “ADVERTIS-
ING REGISTER/Patented December 16,
1896/Drobisch Bros. And Co. Manufactur-
ers Decatur, Ill.” Few collectors had ever
heard of Drobisch, so it was classified as a
“Mystery Machine.”

In the meantime, a few other collec-
tors also had different machines carrying
the Drobisch name — the firm is described
in some detail in the Volume I Trade Stim-
ulator book — and slowly but surely a pic-
ture of the diversity of Drobisch produc-
tion began to take shape. The final steps
were a check of the original patent, reveal-
ing an application for a “Bonus — Deter-
minging Device” dated June 22, 1896 that
shows the ADVERTISING REGISTER in
full detail. Then, the author’s collection of
old slot paper revealed the same machine
in the Ogden & Company 1898 catalogue
in which it was called the ADVERTISING
REGISTER, only the printed graphics
were different. So we have the whole
story except one, where are these
machines? To date, the one illustrated, one
shown in a Western collectibles book and
one that showed up at an auction are the
only known surviving examples.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Waddel

DISCOUNT BICYCLE WHEEL

ne of the greatest aspects of antique
()=" machine collecting is the enor-

mous diversity of its unknowns. I
often ask myself why so many collectors
spend so much time, effort and money on
a bunch of beat-up old store machines that
hardly anyone knows anything about when
they could spend a hell of a lot less on
antique clocks, guns, coins or bottles that
are well catalogued and rigidly priced.
The question answers itself. For me, any-
way. There’s a lot of excitement in not
knowing what something is or when it was
made, and then finding out — if you can.
Often you can’t, or you’re wrong. I won’t
say that collecting things that are well
researched or don’t experience major
Swings in value isn’t exciting, but I can
unequivocally state that coin machine col-
lecting and fact-finding is never boring.
Never!

Just imagine this. In the over one
hundred years that slot machines and trade
stimulators have been an important part of
the American marketing scene, no one
ever sat down to do their history until now.
A whole class of indigenous American
machines with thousands of different vari-
eties, and the obvious was never done.

That means it’s up to you and me to
bring sense and logic to a cluttered past,
with the discovery of a “new” old machine
or just a piece of paper adding to or chang-
ing the history we are so laboriously build-
ing bit by bit. Museums aren’t doing it,
nor are well-paid subsidized researchers.
So this recreation of an all but forgotten
chunk of American history 1s left to part-
time enthusiasts, researchers and collectors
who do it because they like to, squeezing
out the time to find another machine or get
things right amid the pressures of working
for a living and keeping the lawn mowed.
Someday the major publishers and the
well-funded public museums will embrace
our interests and literally take it away from
us, and start to tell us what’s real, and
right, and charge us admission for the
privilege. But they’ll only be able to do so
because we laid the groundwork and gave
it away for all to share.

In the meantime, this small corner of
the collecting world is ours and every
machine we find or fact we learn is a
shared experience. The learning part is
just as exciting as finding because just
when you think you know something cold
you sometimes find out you’re absolutely
wrong. The Waddel wheel is a good
example. The original Volume | Trade
Stimulator book dates the Waddel THE
BICYCLE WHEEL between 1893 and
1908, and mentions the even rarer Waddel

Produced between 1896 and 1903

DISCOUNT BICYCLE WHEEL iillustrat-
ed here. All of these Volume 1 comments
are valid, but one fact was iffy. That’s the
starting date. Not one known example of
the Waddel THE BICYCLE WHEEL car-
ries a date or mention of a patent and no
old advertising yet found even illustrates
or describes the machines. So the date of
origin had to be assumed based on known
technologies. The guess was close. In
March 1979, seeing a large private collec-
tion in Las Vegas for the first time, the
author spotted an entirely different Waddel
machine previously known from an old
store interior photograph. It carried the
patent date May 11, 1897. When the
patent was looked up, it showed the DIS-
COUNT BICYCLE WHEEL exactly as

wen

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Waddel DISCOUNT BICYCLE WHEEL. Gene Foster Collection.

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illustrated here, with an application date of
November 14, 1896.

THE 100 MACHINES

Drobisch

STAR ADVERTISER

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Produced between 1897 and 1904

Drobisch STAR ADVERTISER. Bill Whelan Collection.

Drobisch ADVERTISING REGIS-

TER and Waddel DISCOUNT
BICYCLE WHEEL on the two previous
pages, this description of the Drobisch
STAR ADVERTISER, and the Comstock
THE PERFECTION = and Decatur
FAIREST WHEEL No. 2 descriptions that
follow are the most significant pieces of
copy in this book. They tell a lot about the
process of identifying old machines and
come to grips with some of the real joys

Re my money the descriptions of the

and real problems of our chosen antique
avocation. The enthusiasm is enjoyable
but it’s also hard work. Paradoxically, it’s
the work that makes it the most fun.
Tracing the history of machines like
the Drobisch STAR ADVERTISER just
goes to show how hard the work can be.
About a dozen of these machines are
known to exist, and there may be more.
This practically mint example from the
Bill Whelan collection in California pro-
motes the W. L. Kline Company in St.
Louis, MO and, like most other known

examples, seems to carry all the identifica-
tion data needed to establish its origin and
place in time. “Seems to” are the key
words, for in reality it doesn’t, and the
directions it leads the researcher can be
very confusing.

In letters clear as a bell this machine
carries the legend, “TRY OUR CHOICE
CIGARS/Pat. Allowed Feb. 17,
1897/STAR ADVERTISER/WE HAN-
DLE THE BEST.” Seems easy enough;
just look up the patents for February 17,
1897 date. No such patent. The next step
is to search the ten or twelve thousand for
the year, and you can see how impractical
that is. But I did it. Still nothing. When
checking patents you’d better have a real
patent date or number, an inventors name,
or a makers name with an approximate
date for the latter two, or you’ ve got noth-
ing to start with and nowhere to go.

Luckily for all of us, other collectors
in Ohio, California and New Jersey have
STAR ADVERTISER machines with two
having equally clear graphics. They both
say, “WE SMOKE THE TROPHY
CIGAR/Pat’n Feb. 17, 1897 STAR
ADVERTISER” with one of the two and
the worst of the three adding the copy
“Drobisch Bros. & Co. Mnfrs.” So the
Drobisch identification is clear. There is
also an interesting patent assigned to Dro-
bisch about the same time. It’s a design
patent issued to William S. Graham of
Decatur, IlInois on May 25, 1897 that
shows the same diagonal machine face,
only itis tilted on its stand. Graham
applied for it on March 27, 1897. It’s an
incremental way of tracing a machine’s
history, but as shaggy as it is, it works.

Back to the patents and one to Dro-
bisch on April 6, 1897. Same machine,
only circular. The patent may have been
“allowed” on February 17, but it wasn’t
issued until April 6. To add to the confu-
sion, an almost duplicate model to the
STAR ADVERTISER was also made by
Drobisch as THE LEADER.

hat’s not a PERFECTION you
might say after taking one look at
this old coin drop. As proof, you
might be tempted to turn to the Volume 1
Trade Stimulator book, and you’d have
me. But not for long. The name “Perfec-
tion” was probably used for more coin
machines than any other, and only the
names “Jackpot,” “Operators Bell,” “21”
or “Ace(s)” come close. But not close
enough. PERFECTION machines were
made by a steam tractor company, a
machine tool maker, a coffee grinder
maker, as well as Mills, Canda, Caille,
Dunn, Watling, Maley, Western Weigh-
ing, White, Perfection Novelty Company
and a dozen other coin machine makers,
including Comstock.

Who’s Comstock? That’s what I
asked myself when the first one of these
things showed up. In all candor, I was
way off on it and judged it to be an early
1900s machine. New York collector Ken
Rubin found the first one early in 1976.
It’s the same old story. The machine
seemed to carry its history, but really
doesn’t as it is quite misleading. It’s a
fairly standard-looking trade machine giv-
ing the player a chance at one, two or three
times the amount played in trade. Except
it is very tall and larger than it looks. The
fortunate brass nameplace on the back
(you can view its play action from both
sides, so the storekeeper saw the same
results from behind the counter as the
player did in front) carries the copy “THE
PERFECTION/Comstock Novelty Works,
Fort Wayne, Ind./Patented Jan. 23, 1900.”
The Indiana origin was surprising, but that
date wasn’t, not until the patent was dug
up. When it was, it turned out that the
application date was December 30, 1897,
over two years before the patent was final-
ly issued. Also, another surprise. The
patentee was a coin machine unknown
named Charles D.C. Huestis of Fort
Wayne, no company name. The fact that
the machine carried that 1900 patent date
meant that it was made in February 1900
or later and suggested that poor old Char-
lie Huestis might just have been sweating
blood waiting for that patent. In those
days a patent was usually issued six
months after application, so a wait of over
two years just might have indicated that it
might never have been issued.

Then another example of THE PER-
FECTION showed up at an auction in Per-
rysburg, Ohio, in January 1978. Ohio col-
lector Bob Legen got it, and this time the
name plate said ‘Patent Pending,” indicat-
ing earlier production between December
1897 and December 1899. That’s the

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Comstock
THE PERFECTION

Produced between 18

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machine in this photograph.

Now we add another mystery of sorts.
When Charles D.C. Huestis and the Com-
stock Novelty Works were checked out in
old records in Fort Wayne, Indiana, it
turned out that Huestis left town for Seat-
tle in 1902, apparently selling out his
wholesale grocery business. Groceries?
Then who in hell was Comstock? No such
company name ever appeared in the city
directories or telephone books, and state

97 and 1902

Comstock THE PERFECTION. Bill Whelan Collection.

SATS IY tic.

incorporation records only carry a Com-
stock Novelty Company formed in Hunt-
ington, Indiana, in 1901. From here it
takes guesswork; Charlie Huestis probably
formed his own company to make the
machine, or jobbed it out, but we just can’t
know for sure.

THE 100 MACHINES

Decatur

FAIREST WHEEL No. 2

Produced between 1897 and 1915

Decatur FAIREST WHEEL No.2. Photography by Bill Whelan.

hen you learn only one thing for
sure, a lot of other things often
fall in place. Now that we know

that the Waddel DISCOUNT BICYCLE
WHEEL and THE BICYCLE WHEEL
came out late in 1896, almost two years
after the introduction of the Decatur THE
FAIREST WHEEL of February 1895, the
achievement of the Decatur Fairest Wheel
Company and wheel inventor James G.
Huffman take on a new glow. Huffman
was first by a country mile, and everything

else he did obviously led the pack.

The first THE FAIREST WHEEL, as
described in the Volume 1 Trade Stimula-
tor book, was a big machine with a wood-
en coin chute at the top and a sturdy wood-
en base. Drobisch, Waddel and others,
taking their lead from the pioneering THE
FAIREST WHEEL, made smaller and
lighter machines and quite obviously
enjoyed a great deal of sales success
because they were easier to handle. Com-
petition being what it is and always was,

this is probably the reason Huffman made
a smaller version of the original wheel
with a brass coin entry, which any reason-
able assumption might suggest an identifi-
cation as FAIREST WHEEL No. 2, except
it wasn’t, as No. 2 was a further modifica-
tion of the smaller wheel with a dual coin
head with chutes left and right of the cen-
ter.

Rare as the original large THE
FAIREST WHEEL is, this is even a rarer
model. It now seems that the production
of the large wheel lasted only as long as
the original Decatur Fairest Wheel Com-
pany, with the latest and last models hav-
ing a glass walled boxlike base that served
as a cash box. By 1897 the firm had
become The Decatur Fairest Wheel Works
and was making a much smaller and
lighter wheel with a similar glass-walled
cash box as shown in the photograph.
Other weight-saving and cost-cutting
tricks were applied, with the name “‘Fairest
Wheel” stencilled on a wooden header
while the patent date “May 7, 1895” is
rubber stamped on the base. The earliest
models of the smaller wheel also carry the
die-stamped identification “The Fairest
Wheel Co./No. 2/Decatur, Ill.” on a light
stamped tin center hub for the wheel. This
part is often missing from the surviving
wheels and most collectors don’t even
know it was originally there as the wooden
hub is so well finished.

The visible cash box idea on the
FAIREST WHEEL No. 2 seems to have
been a direct steal from the Waddel and
Drobisch wheels, but it’s the least the lat-
ter makers could contribute to Huffman
after swiping his original idea. This is also
the only model of THE FAIREST
WHEEL that could control the spin in
either direction, depending on which of
the two coin slots, left or right, were used.
Most of the surviving FAIREST WHEEL
machines are of the visible cash box vari-
ety and it seems to have been sold for a
long time. The earliest ads showing the
machine seem to have appeared in 1898,
and the device was still being illustrated
and sold out of saloon and cigar store sup-
ply catalogues as late as 1916. One pur-
veyor even put their own nameplate on the
machine, adding a small brass plate over
the cash box that said “Albert Pick &
Company/Chicago.” Naturally, because of
the added graphics, these examples are
prime.

78 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

National (Mills)
LITTLE MONTE CARLO

Produced between 1897 and 1910
he last half of the 1890s was an |
exciting time in terms of American

population, marketing and industrial
growth. Machinery literally went public,
and the beginnings of electrical appli-
ances, automobiles and even the airplane
were being seen, soon to be the province
of every man. Mechanical devices picked
up a lot of sophistication in a few short
years, with coin-operated chance machines
moving forward as rapidly as the age,
sometimes faster.

Slot machine companies — usually
established by somebody with an idea or
two — sprang up like sunflowers. One
early producer was The National Manufac-
turing Company of New York City, a
small producer of automatic payout gum
vending, strength test and trade stimulator
machines. National introduced the plain
Sheet metal cabinet MONTE CARLO,
shown here, around 1897 as a much stur-
dier, more sophisticated and more colorful
version of the older wooden box IM-
PROVED ROULETTE class of counter
cigar machines. MONTE CARLO was lit-
erally the first of the metal cabinet
machines so sought after by collectors. It
allows 5-way multiple play, with counter
payouts based on the color played, with
increasing odds of from 2:1 to 12:1 paid
in merchandise for plays on red, black,
star, “O” or “O00.”

By the end of 1899 National had been
bought out by The Mills Novelty Compa-
ny of Chicago, the latter well on its way to
becoming the largest coin machine pro-
ducer in the country. Mills continued to
sell MONTE CARLO as a Mills machine,
ultimately modifying and improving the
mechanisms now packaged in an elabo-
rate highly nickel plated cast iron cabinet
detailed and upping the payout odds to
15:1 and bringing the machine out as the
LITTLE MONTE CARLO. A one coin
play single-slot conversion plate also came
with the machine so it could be runasa5- fas : ie ts Ske ee AP
way or single play machine. In its day Tt eae ee ait tg ee an Me oa 2 oe a
LITTLE MONTE CARLO sold drinks and a eer ipo So gee we He PT Sy igh i ag YE ays aN
cigars, to be sure, but also expanded trade iw 6 te OS Py eee eee Mia Re i Tie :
stimulator horizons to costume jewelry, National (Mills) LITTLE MONTE CARLO. John Fults Collection.
store merchandise, and straight cash pay-
outs. The Mills LITTLE MONTE
CARLO is a classic cast-iron piece, while
the original National MONTE CARLO is
a treasure; it’s rare as the dickens.

THE 100 MACHINES 79

Fey
KLONDIKE

Produced between 1898 and 1899

Charlie Fey had his shop in San Fran-
cisco, and in his early years (from 1895 to
1906) he made machines for California
alone, specifically for his own coin
machine routes. An original thinker, Fey
still wasn’t above appropriating an idea or
two as long as it suited his purpose.
KLONDIKE is such a machine. Drop a
coin in one of the six slots and a pointer
automatically spins. If it stops on the
color you picked based on its color coded
slot, you got paid off in trade accordingly,
with green, white, yellow and blue paying
off in higher amounts based on fewer
stops. The whole idea is almost an exact
duplicate of an earlier five-way machine
made by the Cowper Manufacturing Com-
pany in Chicago called THE MIDGET.
But the MIDGET wasn’t in San Francisco,
and Fey was. So he spun the sales his way.

Apparently only two of these
machines are known, the one shown in this
photograph in the collection of Marsh Fey
in Reno, Nevada. If you have a copy of
Fey’s exceptionally fine book Slot
Machines, you'll find an actual location
photograph of this machine around the
turn of the century on page 19 of the later
editions.

The dating of the machine is fairly
easy. The news of the Klondike Gold
Rush (also spelled Klondyke, and, in the
very early days of the gold fever,
Clondyke, in the manner of the original
Canadian-Indian name) hit San Francisco
in the summer of 1896 like a thunderbolt.
The gold rush in California half a century
earlier had become a legend, and suddenly
gold was to be had for the pickings once
again. That’s what the people said who
came back. Even though most of the
returnees were broke, people believed
them anyway. By 1897 the name
Klondike was on everyone’s lips, and on a
lot of coin machines to stimulate the play.
The Fey KLONDIKE has a touch of this
Opportunism in its name, and on the
machine.

The KLONDIKE name doesn’t really
fit the center circle very well, giving it the
look of a makeshift addition. My hunch is
the award card was entirely different on
the original machine, with the machine
name changed to capitalize on the gold
strike. Fey was not only a mechanical
brain, he was also a hot dog promoter. But
what was the earlier name?

Fey KLONDIKE. Marsh Fey Collection.

known name to collectors after Mills. If

ey! Possibly the single most signifi- | the name of Charles A. Fey is new to you,

Hen: name in coin operated chance _ you are new to the field of trade stimula-
machines of any kind, and the best tors and slot machines.

80 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Mills
LITTLE DUKE

Produced between 1898 and 1908

ITTLE DUKE is a famous name in
| Be machines. Collectors who

know both trade stimulators and
slots immediately think of the star and
moon or fruit symbol Jennings LITTLE
DUKE automatic payout slot machine of
1931 and afterward when they hear the
name. But that’s not where the name
came from. The name originally came out
of playing cards, with a small, miniatur-
ized deck known as Little Duke cards.
Therefore, when the small countertop card
machines came along, the LITTLE DUKE
name was perfect for machines that uti-
lized the small cards as reel symbols. The
wonder is that the name wasn’t used more
often for card machines, yet it doesn’t
seem to have been.

The only machine that seems to have
commandeered the name in the beginning
was a five-reel card machine made by the
Mills Novelty Company of Chicago.
Rumor has it, according to old times and
early writings in the coin machine busi-
ness, that the LITTLE DUKE was the
third machine to be produced by what was
to become the mighty Mills Novelty Com-
pany of Chicago, but this seems unlikely.
Mills was formed in the summer of 1897
and started out with a number of automatic
payout counter wheel slot machines called
the IMPROVED KALAMAZOO, THE
AMERICA and, logically for the date,
THE KLONDYKE. But maybe the LIT-
TLE DUKE was the third machine created
by Herbert S. Mills himself — the others
were the product of the fertile brain of his
father — and therefore got the rep. Little
mind, for suffice to say LITTLE DUKE is
an early Mills machine, and not a very
unique or inspired one at that. Except for
the fact that it looks so great. The
machine survives in nickel plated and cop-
per oxidized examples, and they are clear-
ly cast iron classics. Another classic touch
is the swivel base, permitting the machine
to be spun around for confirmation of a
winning play by a customer. One example
in a midwestern collection has a serial
number 1357 die stamped in its wooden
base indicating some degree of productive
multitude, or suggesting that all Mills card
machines had a serialization of their own.

The midwestern example has actual
reproduced Little Duke cards as reel sym-
bols, complete with its Little Duke No. 24
Ace of Spades.

Cowper LITTLE DUKE machines
have been rumored, as well as other Mills
models. But they haven’t been confirmed.

< y \,
—— er >" 4a
BAe py are tne aed: Se “4
os — 1s A

he Canda “Iron Card Machines,” as

they were called in their day, were

the most famous and most success-

ful slot machine formats to be created by

this pioneer Cincinnati firm. Their fame,

and names, lived long after Leo Canda

packed it up and the coin machine industry

all but moved lock, stock and barrel out of
this early industrialized Ohio river city.

THE 100 MACHINES

Canda
JUMBO SUCCESS

Produced b

he Si

The most successful were the SUC-
CESS and JUMBO SUCCESS machines,
only it wasn’t only Canda production that
made this so. It all started with the Canda
SUCCESS of 1895, a floor standing five
reel card machine on a decorated cast iron
pedestal made for saloon placement that is
described in the first volume of these
Trade Stimulator books. The playing card

etween 1898 and 1900

symbols on the contra-spinning reels were
somewhat smaller than standard deck of
cards used in table play, but that was to be
expected in a coin machine as they always
had been on the small bartop and floor
stand card machines they were beginning
to dot the countryside up to that date.
Canda spun the SUCCESS idea out in a
few directions, creating the similar cast
iron BONANZA pedestal floor machine
and the similar wooden cabinet countertop
PERFECTION, PERFECTION FIGARO,
UPRIGHT FIGARO and UPRIGHT PER-
FECTION machines. SUCCESS begat
success as the beginning of a whole breed
of card machines.

While the begatting was under way,
Canda begot another card machine idea
that opened the door to a whole new series
of card machines that paralleled the SUC-
CESS developments. It started with a
large wooden counter card machine called
JUMBO, also available as a floor machine
when placed on a masssive matching
wooden stand. JUMBO wasn’t really any
different than the earlier Canda card
machines except for the fact that it was so
blasted big. The cards were not only full
size, they were a big full size. That gave a
new lease on life to a number of Canda
card machines that used JUMBO as part of
their name. The floor model GIANT
CARD machine of 1895 became the
JUMBO GIANT of 1897, and the pedestal
base SUCCESS upped its card symbol size
and its corresponding cast irton cabinet
and stand to become the JUMBO SUC-
CESS of 1898, with the Canda SUCCESS
and JUMBO SUCCESS standing side by
side for the next few years as an either-or
alternative to the card machine. Both
became so successful they were practically
inseparable in sales and promotion. For
one thing, they almost always ended up on
the same catalogue page together.

This togetherness didn’t end when
Canda did, for both machines were picked
up for production by the numerous subse-
quent producers of the most successful of
the Canda machines. When Caille Bros.,
Mills Novelty, Dan Schall, Watling Manu-
facturing Company and the Automatic
Machine And Tool Company started mak-
ing card machines based on the Canda pro-
totypes, they all made both SUCCESS and
JUMBO SUCCESS models. These later
variants are highly decorated with multi-
metal plated and painted trim, making
them a far cry from the earlier plain-Jane
Canda models. But it was the Canda
model that started it all, making this less
than ornate version a prime collectible.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Decatur

FAIREST WHEEL No. 3

fficially there may or may not have
(== a Decatur FAIREST WHEEL

No. 3. We know for sure that the
original THE FAIREST WHEEL as
described in Volume 1 was a large counter
wheel trade stimulator patented May 5S,
1895, and that it was revised downward in
size aS a smaller No. 1. Later it was
reduced in weight as the FAIREST
WHEEL No. 2 as described some pages
back. The No. 2 model was based on the
Same patent (a rubber stamped patent date
on most machines proves that) and was
clearly the second model, with die
stamped wheel hubs marked “The Fairest
Wheel Co./No. 2/Decatur, Ill.” proving
that point. But from there on out we’ve
got to make assumptions.

Clearly the wheel shown here is dif-
ferent. The name display header at the top
and the wheel hub are different with the
coin entry a single hole at the top center.
The wheel could still spin right or left,
depending on the spin put on the coin. But
most everything else is just about the
same, suggesting that the nebulous No. 3
is nothing more than later production of
No. 2. Some of these machines have No.
2 die stamped on the center hub with the
patent date die stamped on top of the base.
Both of these smaller FAIREST WHEEL
models were produced simultaneously,
with No. 3 showing up sometime after No.
2. It’s dumb little things like this that
make it so hard to separate fact from fabri-
cation, and researchers don’t really know
when they’re making things up by
embarking on a journey of wishful think-
ing. Sure, logic is a lot easier to handle
than looseness — expecially if you’re try-
ing to tabulate someting — but some-
times any attempt to impose logic on an
illogical base can only lead to misrepre-
sentation. So was there really a FAIREST
WHEEL No. 3, or do we just want to
make one up in order to catagorize some-
thing that resists order? You decide for
yourself.

The facts are these: In 1899 or 1900 a
Chicago saloon equipment and hotel glass-
ware purveyor called Arthur Schiller &
Co. issued a catalogue showing the glass-
walled cashbox FAIREST WHEEL No. 2.
Then, in 1907, an outfit called the White
Vending Company on West Madison
Street in Chicago — all that was left of the
once-mighty White Manufacturing Com-
pany that used to make large floor model
automatic color wheel payout slot
machines a few years earlier — came out
with an advertising folder showing the
solid-walled cash box FAIREST WHEEL,
saying “The wheel will increase your cigar

Produced between 1899 and 1915

ae I ° ae ups foPes % Le
" : , ' : 2 CA SRE ic Sere
ote ? : DK ~ aes Se Peta
= x tha hale ss eee Wear A FN
“a Fh te EPs ae et
¥ - aa are opts = <. aa 5A OSes WS oe
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rae oh =
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Decatur FAIREST WHEEL No.3. Bill Whelan Collection.

sales for 10 to 100 percent and will pay for
itself in 2 months.” Then the glass-walled
cash box model seemingly came back, fea-
tured as it were in 1911 and then the 1913
Albert Pick & Company catalogues direct-
ed toward saloons, restaurants and hotels.
So is this a separate model, or an interim
model, or just part of the FAIREST

WHEEL No. 2 production? Until some-
one comes up with one with a wheel hub
that says No. 3, or No. 4, or something dif-
ferent, we won’t know for sure. Oh,
there’s also another surviving version that
has the solid wall cash box with a small
glass window. No. 5?

Bell (Wrigley’s)
DEWEY

Produced between 1899 and 1907

Bell (Wrigley’s) DEWEY. Tim LaGanke Collection.

are enough to send a ripple of

excitement through any coin
machine collector’s heart. “Only it isn’t a
DEWEY like a regular DEWEY;; it’s a
DEWEY like a LITTLE DREAM.” What
kind of DEWEY is that, you say? At least
four coin machine collectors (maybe
more) have had the same experience, and
the same reaction. It’s a DEWEY all right
— the small countertop device couldn’t
possibly have any other name based on

6 ° [acre a DEWEY!” Those words

that well-known face behind the big brass
pins — but it’s like no other DEWEY
you’ve ever seen before. It’s also quite
rare.

This is one of those classic examples
where the identification of the machine
came out of the machine itself to be later
confirmed by a piece of original slot
machine literature. The device is a signu-
larly unique countertop trade stimulator
coin drop with pockets that offer payouts
of a penny in trade for a penny played, or

maybe two. The coins stay in view until
relased by a lever behind the machine to
drop into a large cash box in the wide
base. Seven of the nine pockets say 1;
only two of the nine say 2 (with some
store keepers fudging the last “1” into a
3”), so the machine doesn’t really give
much away. What it does do is command
your attention because of the colorful
lithographed reproduction of the bust of
Admiral George Dewey, the Spanish-
American War hero, which covers the
whole pinfield while the rest of the
machine front serves as a picture frame.
The only illogical part is the patent date
stamped on the machine. Dewey was a
non-entity until he blasted the Spanish
fleet in Manila Bay in May 1898, and his
real fame spread late in 1899 when he
arrived in New York for a hero’s wel-
come. Starting around August 1899
Dewey’s face was plastered all over the
country, and the political powers that be
even touted the otherwise unassuming
Admiral as a potential presidential candi-
date for the 1900 election. Everybody
heard of the guy and, short of Teddy
Roosevelt, he was the most popular man in
the country. Yet, on this machine the
patent day is noted as June 22, 1897 — a
year before any of this started to happen.
The only coin machine patent issued on
that date that has any likely connection to
a trade stimulator is Patent No. 585,077
issued to a “Jonas N. Bell’ of Chicago for
a single-reel trade machine know to be
made as the NICKELSCOPE in 5¢ play
and the PENNYSCOPE in 1¢ play. Fur-
thermore, Bell’s Company made the
machine for a gum salesman named
William Wrigley, with known examples
carrying a namecard that say “Mfg’d by
Wm. Wrigley Jr. & Co., Chicago,
Philadelphia.” The real maker was the
Jonas D. Bell And Company (middle ini-
tial “D,” not “N’’) of Chicago as proven by
an old trade card showing the machine and
discovered by collector Ira Warren at a
Gaithersburg, Maryland, Flea Market.

Then the author stumbled across an
original piece of Wrigley gum advertising
in the hand of collector Fred Fried that
showed not only the Bell PENNYSCOPE,
but also this machine, calling the latter
“Wrigley’s Dewey Pin Machine Assort-
ment.” That patent date proves Bell made
them both. The original Wrigley ad for
the DEWEY is reproduced in the editorial
section of this book. Would you believe it
— both were given away for free when the
store keeper bought a tie-in selection of
Wrigley’s gum. As an aside, so was THE
BICYCLE.

vaguely familiar look, it’s not surpris-

ing. It was illustrated in the first vol-
ume of this Trade Stimulator book series.
When the landmark An Illustrated Price
Guide to the 100 Most Collectible Trade
Stimulators was published in November
1978 the Bennett machine had just been
discovered and little was known about it.
The first, and to date, only, known exam-
ple was found by a western collector, sold
to collector-dealer Larry Lubliner in High-
land Park, Illinois and subsequently resold
to another western collector early in 1979.
Such rapid machine movement is typical
for a rarity such as this as other collectors
see a single known example of a machine
for the first time and then “just have to
have it.”

There’s an enduring coin machine
collectors’ adage that once the first exam-
ple of any machine is found, a second one
comes along in rapid order. The marvel of
this thinking is the fact that this has hap-
pened countless numbers of times, and
whenever collectors swap stories along
with their machines, the finding of the
“second machine” — no matter what the
machine is — is often widely discussed.

It didn’t happen quite that way with
the Bennett STUCKEY CIGAR; but it did
happen. There are usually two ways that
any “‘second machine” is found. The first,
and the hardest, is through original discov-
ery, that being the finding of a “second
machine” through pure luck or happen-
stance, but based on the fact that now the
finder knows what to look for, or can
quickly recognize the find. That circum-
stance, more than any other, is what makes
these illustrated price guides invaluable to
the collector, picker, dealer or antique coin
machine investor. The second way that a
“second machine” is discovered is far
more common. What happens is that a
collector spots a rarity in print for the first
time and says, “Hey, I’ve got one of those,
only I didn’t know what it was.” That’s
how the Bennett STUCKEY CIGAR was
duplicated, only not quite.

When Larry Lubliner showed up with
the first example of this machine, the
author went to work on its history. Large
letters on the bottom of the front paper
say““Manufactured for Stuckey Cigar Co.,
Lancaster, Ohio” while small copy at the
upper left and right corners states “This
machine manufactured by Bennett &
Co./Kalamazoo, Mich.” Experience sug-
gested that the machine had “an early
1900s look” as described by the author.
Once given the facts at hand, the Kalama-
zoo Public Library was able to come up

|: the Bennett STUCKEY CIGAR has a

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Bennett

STUCKEY CIGAR

Produced between 1900 and 1912

Bennett STUCKEY CIGAR. Tom Gustwiller Collection.

with an identification of the firm and some
dates, showing a Bennett & Company to
be active between 1900 and the 1920s,
making cigar cases and “novelties”
between 1900 and 1912, and furniture
thereafter. Coincidentally the Lancaster,
Ohio Public Library identified a Stuckey
Cigar Company that was active between
1899 and 1918. So it looks like an Ohio
cigar company contracted with a Michigan
cigar case maker to have them produce a
cigar trade stimulator.

As for the “second machine,” when
Chicago collector Joe Vojacek saw the
picture of the Bennett STUCKEY CIGAR
in the first trade stimulator volume he said,
“Hey, I’ve got one of those, only I didn’t
know what it was” and added, “because
mine is called RED BIRD and it’s made
by an outfit called the Park Novelty Com-
pany in Kalamazoo.” Park? Who’s Park?
Sorry, but you’ ll have to wait eleven pages
for the end of the story.

THE 100 MACHINES

E.A. Ruff

CRAP SHOOTERS DELIGHT

Produced in 1900

Crap
Shooters
Delight

F.A. Ruff CRAP SHOOTERS DELIGHT. Mel Getlan Collection.

e know what this machine is
worth and how rare it is. So far
only one of these small cast iron

beauties has shown up, so it’s rare. Its
value hasn’t been tested on the auction
block in recent years and you probably
couldn’t buy it from its owner at the prices
listed even at the upper end, so it’s valu-
able. The prices listed here only provide
an equivalent value in the event another
machine shows up, or two or more. It’s

just something to shoot at if you’re ever
faced with the opportunity to pick up a
CRAP SHOOTERS DELIGHT. If there’s
any question in your mind about getting
the machine at such a time, the answer is
simple. If you like it — and a lot of col-
lectors do, but they haven’t been able to
touch it — and the cost is anywhere near
these listed values, get it. If the cost is any
lower, grab it!

The Ruff CRAP SHOOTERS DE-

LIGHT is one of those machines that
seems to tell its whole life story on its face
and body, but like a well-conditioned
mature man or a beautiful older woman,
age can be very misleading. Walk down
the street someday and play a game; esti-
mate the year of birth of the people you
pass. To make it easier, accept the latitude
of two years either way — that gives you a
five year spread for error — in the same
way the old carnival and amusement park
weight guessing spielers used to make a
bundle off the suckers with their spring-
suspended weighing chains. Try it.
You’ ll learn something fast. Younger peo-
ple, even children, are fairly easy to figure
within that five year range. Guess, and
ask. Most people will level with you fast
and tell you their date of birth. But the
moment you get people in their forties,
and especially past their fifties, male or
female, it’s anybody’s guess.

It’s the same with machines. If you
didn’t read the date at the top of this page,
block it off and guess the date of the
CRAP SHOOTERS DELIGHT, starting,
and ending. Write it down, and read on.

When New York collector Mel Getlan
first picked up the machine — and he still
owns it at the time of this writing — he
asked the author the date of the manufac-
ture. The available data suggested it
should have been easy to find, only it
wasn’t. The front of this unique dice
machine says “Mfd. by F.A. Ruff, Detroit”
in a cast iron nameplate, while the reward
paper says “CRAP SHOOTERS DE-
LIGHT/FREE CIGARS/DROP COIN IN
SLOT YOU WISH TO PLAY.” Five slots
take either a penny or a nickel with from
one to three cigars paid in trade for the
penny winners and five times as many for
a nickel.

All that remained to be done was
identify the F.A. Ruff firm in Detroit and
its tenure by dates. The old directories
were consulted in the Detroit Public
Library, starting with 1916 and going
backward because the machine seems to
have a “teens” look. Three hours of
searching and no luck back to 1905. The
next trip to Detroit was two hours of dig-
ging and no luck from 1917 to 1928. A
third trip to Detroit with the search starting
in 1896 found Frederick A. Ruff in the real
estate business. Then pay dirt. Ruff was a
manufacturer of electrical switches from
1897 to 1900, and was back in real estate
in 1901. There was a six or seven month
gap between the two ventures in 1900, and
that has to be it. A machine made for only
a few months in 1900; no wonder they’re
rare. Correction; it’s rare.

ost of the machines described and

priced in this book, as well as in

other illustrated price guides in
the trade stimulator and automatic payout
slot machines series published by Coin
Slot Books, are available in some num-
bers. That is not to say they are common,
but rather are recognized collectibles.
Then there are the rarer machines avail-
able in limited numbers and the rarest of
all, those represented by a single surviving
example.

The single surviving example
machines are often puzzling. The puzzle
isn’t as troublesome as it might be if the
machine carries a nameplate, maker’s
name, date or patent number. Any one of
these graphic features can lead to proper
identification and dating. Any combina-
tion of two or more can make the job a lot
easier. But a single example unknown
machine with no date or name or patent
number or clue to who made it can be a
puzzlement of the highest order. There’s
only two ways to make identification. The
first is the easiest, and that’s the longshot
hope that someone else has a similar
machine that carries identification. Once
the “mystery machine” is illustrated and
described, the other owner has a chance to
see it, raise a hand, and come through with
clues to its origin. That happens more
often than you think as collectors trade
color Polariod pictures or carry the pic-
tures in their books to auctions and other
gatherings that attract coin machine collec-
tors. This interchange of information is
invaluable to coin machine collectors and
dealers and one of the primary reasons
why coin machine auctions and shows
(such as major Flea Markets, the annual
advertising antique shows at Gaithersberg,
Maryland and Indianapolis, Indiana, and
the major slot machine shows and auctions
that have been conducted in Illinois, Neva-
da and California) have become so popu-
lar.

But what of the truly orphaned single
example machine that carries no marks of
any kind? There’s only one way to pin it
down, and it depends on luck. Someone
— anyone will do — has to know that
such a machine once existed and be able to
spot it on sight if it ever shows up. Even
here there’s an easy way and a tough way.
The as yet undiscovered machines that
have appeared in old catalogs, in catalog
reprints, or in old ads in The Billboard,
Automatic Age, The Coin Machine Journal
and other trade publications, are known to
a number of collectors and slot machine
history enthusiasts. So when such a
machine shows up, chances are someone

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

August
HOODOO

Produced between 1901 and 1908

will say, “Hey, I know what that is; it’s a
whatchamacallit.”” That’s the easy way to
identification.

And the tough way? One person
knows of the prior existence of the
machine and as luck would have it the one
person that has the only known surviving
example of the machine just happens to
ask the one who knows. In 1975 the
author was plowing through a bunch of old
patents and found drawings for a mar-
velous old trade stimulator called
HOODOO for restaurant cashier place-
ment that carried a marquee that said
“Who Treats/You Do — I Do” and the
name “THE HOODOO” at its base. The
maker was the August Grocery Co. of
Richmond, Virginia, a wholesale food sup-
plier. Six months later a collector sent the

pee es.” : ee
August HOO DOO. Anonymous Collection.

author a photograph of the very same
machine in the flesh, so to speak, and the
answer was rushed back. “It’s an August
HOODOO, of course!” The collector
never got over the instant return-mail iden-
tification.

THE 100 MACHINES

Kelley
FLIP FLAP

Produced between 1901 and 1903

Kelley FLIP FLAP. Bill Whelan Collection.

oking around in ancient coin
Proastne history can be a lot of fun,

and exciting if the results add to your
knowledge or lead to the identification
and/or dating of a machine. The experi-
ence of Chicago coin machine collector
Joe Vojacek is a classic example. In trad-
ing around in late 1977 and early 1978,
Joe suddenly found himself the owner of a
truly unique trade stimulator. Drop in a
penny at the chute at the top right and it
spins around a runway gathering speed to
shoot into the playfield. Joe had never
seen one before. That’s no small trick

because Joe has been collecting for a long
time.

The only clue to the machine’s origin
is a nameplate on the cabinet base that
says “Kelley Mfg. Co. 80-82 Wabash
Ave., Chicago, Ill.” If Joe had acquired
the machine only nine months later and
after publication of the first An /llustrated
Price Guide to the 100 Most Collectible
Trade Stimulators volume near the end of
1978, he might never have started search-
ing for its origins. The reason, according
to Joe, is that the first trade stimulator vol-
ume illustrates and describes a machine

called THE KELLEY made by the Kelley
Cigar Company of Chicago under the Kel-
ley Manufacturing Company name, with
the copy including a very brief history of
the Kelley firm. After reading the copy,
Joe would have let it go at that, figuring
that the firm had been identified and that
his machine was one of many made by the
firm between 1901 and 1903.

But Joe didn’t know any of this at the
time, so he embarked on his own research.
As he got deeper and deeper into the dig,
he realized that the process of tracking
down old coin machine history is time-
consuming, labor intensive, and interesting
— provided you find something. And he
did. So he put all this thoughts and his
notes down on paper and submitted the
whole thing to the collector publication
Loose Change as an article. Loose
Change ran the article under the title’, The
Time Machine” in their August 1978
issue, and coin machine collectors were
suddenly staring at the picture of a
machine that none of them had ever seen
before.

Joe’s findings and his interpretations
of these findings were interesting and cor-
rect. Quoting from the Loose Change arti-
cle, “If we take the (City of) Chicago
directories (in the Chicago Public Library)
literally, there never was a Kelley Manu-
facturing Company at 80-82 Wabash. The
address was occupied 1901-1903 ... at 15
and 17 Dearborn. Evidence indicates that
the penny drop was made at the Wabash
address ... before the manufacturing com-
pany merited a directory listing of its own.
Consequently, the penny drop was most
likely made sometime during 1903.”

If Joe had kept digging in the Chicago
directories after 1905, he would have dis-
covered that the name Kelley Cigar Co.
reappeared in 1906, lasting until 1908,
indicating that the Kelley Manufacturing
Company name was never the primary
firm name and was only used to stick on
coin machines. But history digging isn’t
easy and takes a long time, according to
Joe. And that’s for sure. As for the
machine name, at the time it came out in
the 1901-1903 period, a popular looping
roller coaster ride called the “Flip Flap
Roadway” was in operation at Young’s
Pier along the Boardwalk in Atlantic City,
New Jersey, having been set up in 1898,
so the name has been applied to the
machine by the author. It’s a guess, but
probably as close as we’ll ever get unless
one with a name plate shows up. By 1906
the looping roller coaster was off the mar-
ket because it had killed a bunch of peo-
ple. And so was the Kelley FLIP FLAP.

hat an absolutely marvelous
machine this is! Imagine taking
five counter UPRIGHT PER-

FECTION trade stimulators and gluing
them all together to make one large cabi-
net, and then sticking that cabinet on a
marbelized floor pedestal. Fantastic! But
that’s exactly what has been done to create
the Caille QUINTETTE.

Actually Caille Bros. Co. of Detroit
didn’t create the machine. The idea came
out of the fertile and imaginative shops of
the Leo Canda Company in Cincinnati,
Ohio in January 1900. Canda had devel-
oped a five-reel card machine called the
MODEL CARD MACHINE around 1893.
By 1896 it had been refined as the small
countertop PERFECTION CARD
machine, and soon the mechanism was
modified, enlarged and improved to
appear in a whole line of countertop and
floor model card machines. One of the
most popular variation was a boxy model
call the COUNTER PERFECTION or
UPRIGHT PERFECTION. Then on Jan-
uary 9, 1990, Cincinnati inventor Leo
Canda applied for a design patent on a
monster version that put five UPRIGHT
PERFECTION machines together to creat
the ultimate card machine with 25 reels.
Canda called it the CARD MACHINE,
and if you have seen or own one of the
Sicking Manufacturing Company poster
reprints produced from originals in the
author’s collection some years ago, you’ll
see the machine in a commanding position
on the back of the sheet. By the end of
1901 when both the Mills Novelty Compa-
ny of Chicago and The Caille Bros. Co. of
Detroit (to be later followed by The
Watling Manufacturing Company of
Chicago in 1902) picked up and started
producing the Canda machines, the 1-way
Canda CARD MACHINE was being pro-
duced by Caille as the 5-way QUIN-
TETTE. For some strange reason, Mills
passed it by, giving Caille an exclusive
with the machine.

Only two or three of the original
Canda machines survive, and interestingly
they don’t command the prices of the later
Caille version. The reason is obvious!
The five slot Caille QUINTETTE is far
more elegant than the earlier Canda
CARD MACHINE, and the difference is
in the castings and trim. The Canda model
is very plain, in a largely underrated
wooden cabinet. But the Caille Model:
WOW! The trim fairly drips, it’s mar-
velous.

This is a machine that suddenly found
its price level. In the middle 1970s three
or four were known, and while they were

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Caille
QUINTETTE

Produced between 1901 and 1913

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commanding and interesting, they didn’t
really turn the collectors on. Fortunately
most of their owners like them and kept
them. It wasn’t until three or four more
were suddenly available, reprint Caille cat-
alogues began to make the rounds, and
collectors began to recognize the charm
and financial value of non-payout trade
stimulators that the QUINTETTE took off.
It’s a machine that seems to have been
popular in hotel lobbies and old cigar

counters, with old estate and hotel auctions
adding new examples to the mix. When
the old Keefer Hotel in Hillsdale, Michi-
gan auctioned off its goods in the spring of
1975, a QUINTETTE in excellent condi-
tion went for $850. The dealer that bought
it turned it for less than $1500 and thought
he did pretty well at that. That’s not that
long ago, and today you couldn’t even
touch a basket case QUINTETTE for any-
where near that money.

THE 100 MACHINES

Caille

ROYAL JUMBO

Produced between 1901 and 1916

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Caille ROYAL JUMBO. Gene Foster Collection.

sk any trade stimulator, payout slot
Ak arcade machine collector, dealer,

restorer or investor who knows
anything at all about coin machines and
you’ ll get the same answer: there definite-
ly is a “Caille Look.” Pressed for a
description they’ll be hard put, except to

say that Caille machines are a lot more
elaborate in trim and color, and especially
in castings. To pin it down, it’s always the
castings that win. No matter how many
plated pieces or casting trim any maker put
on their machines, for the equivalent
machine The Caill Bros. Co. put on more.

The resulting display is nothing short of
dazzling. It looks that way today, and it
was just as outspoken years ago when the
machines were in their prime.

Caille trim borders on overkill, but
obviously the customers liked it. This
overabundance of plated trim was the
Caille secret weapon against the competi-
tion, and they used this advantage repeat-
edly. When Caille machines were in an
eyeball-to-eyeball competitive situation
with the machines of other makers, Caille
came out with a newer and later model
that sank the competition in a sea of nickel
plating. They did it with their PERFEC-
TION CARD machine by making it the
GOOD LUCK, and in 1901 theye did it to
the JUMBO SUCCESS to create the
ROYAL JUMBO. Actually, that’s not
exactly true, for the basic machine idea
was another Canda pick-up. The Leo
Canda Company of Cincinnati had created
a fairly elaborate counter card machine
along the lines of its JUMBO SUCCESS
called the ROYAL CARD machine. None
have ever shown up as collectibles, but it
was illustrated and described in the 1898
Ogden And Co. catalogue. The old cata-
logue copy describes it as a counter
machine made in penny and nickel play
models that is “made up in such a manner
that the outer appearance should not
become shabby after short use,” a problem
that plagued a lot of the other Canda card
machines. Canda may have made a
ROYAL JUMBO, and Caille may have
made the counter ROYAL model in 1901
or thereafter, but there is no evidence to
confirm the existence of either of these
theoretical models. What is known is the
Caille ROYAL JUMBO of the 1901-1916
period, which is hands down the most
highly trimmed and elegant pedestal-
mounted “Iron Card Machine” ever pro-
duced. Caille made the same claim for it
in their 1912 “Booket M” catalogue. Ear-
lier, in their 1909 “Catalog 509,” Caille
stated that they were “safe in stating that it
is the highest type of this class machine
ever attempted.” They added that “ele-
gance of style is embodied in every detail
of construction and finish” and the “The
ROYAL JUMBO has a striking appear-
ance and an individuality which ‘stick out’
and makes it quite different from any other
floor machine.”

They didn’t exaggerate as one look at
this picture will prove. It’s a beautiful
machine from its highly trimmed cabinet
to its marbelized pedestal and detailed
base. This is the top of the line in standing
iron card machines.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Mills

SUCCESS No. 6 (“Little Success’’)

he most successful thing about the
SUCCESS pedestal card machine is
the fact that it seems that just about
everybody made one. The thing that
makes the Mills SUCCESS unique is that
in the long run, Mills made more out of it
than anyone else did. Few coin machines
indeed had the production run of the Mills
SUCCESS — unless you count the Mills
JUMBO SUCCESS that comes next —
with models running for over twenty years
from 1898, very early in coin machine his-
tory, untill 1920, the beginning of the
modern age of coin machines.

Mills didn’t create the SUCCESS
card machine; Canda did, and started mak-
ing it in 1895. The Canda model and a
number of its derivatives are illustrated
and covered in detail in the first volume of
IIlustrated Guide to 100 Collectible Trade
Stimulators. If you haven’t read that yet,
you should as the background is interest-
ing.

Mills took it from there. When the
Canda machines suddenly became all but
public property in 1901, both Mills and
Caille (and later, once again, Watling in
1902) made SUCCESS (“Little Success’’)
and JUMBO SUCCESS (“Big Success’)
machines. Plain as the original Canda
machines were, Mills and Caille hyped
their models. Caille, typically, added a lot
of elegant casting trim. Mills went
halfway, adding trim, but nothing as ele-
gant or complicated as the Caille models.
Mills didn’t have to go as far as the others
did in reproducing their version of the
SUCCESS for they had something no
other coin machine producer had, that
being massive coast-to-coast coin machine
distribution supported by factory display
offices and dealers all over the country.
The moment Mills made the SUCCESS —
already a highly popular saloon, cigar
stare, cigar counter, barber shop, pool hall
and hotel lobby machine — the Mills
model was on its way to location place-
ment any and everywhere that coin
machines proliferated. Starting with the
Original “Little Success” in 1898,
improved models No. 3 of 1900, No. 4 of
1901 and No. 5 of early 1902 led to the
most successful model of all, No. 6 of
1902. The Mills “Little Success’? went up
to No. 8, but it is No. 6, with the model
number in the casting below the visible
window, that was the most popular.

Mills Novelty pulled another stunt
that was exceedingly clever. They made
“Boys and Girls” fortune telling versions
of both machines including the SUCCESS
FORTUNE TELLER in the case of the
“Little Success,” and sold them in black

Produced between 1902 and 1920

Mills SUCCESS No.6 (“Little Success”). Bill Whelan Collection.

with yellow trim, the same as the card
machine, or painted bright red as pre-
ferred. Caille, suddenly facing the need to
play catch-up, did the same thing with
their JUMBO SUCCESS, but never did it
with their smaller SUCCESS card
machine, leaving the field open to Mills at
the low price end of the line. The intro-
ductory ad featuring this version of the
Mills SUCCESS as it appeared in the June
27, 1903 issue of The Billboard, is repro-

duced elsewhere in this book. Don’t miss
the ad copy; it’s totally charming and typi-
cal of the period.

The Mills SUCCESS has distinctive
Mills trim in the form of iron scrollwork
included in the casting of the reel window
frame. It’s the only way to superficially
tell the Mills, Caille, Watling and Auto-
matic Machine and Tool Company models
apart.

THE 100 MACHINES

Mills

JUMBO SUCCESS No. 6 (“Big Success’’)

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Produced between 1902 and 1920

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Mills JUMBO SUCCESS No.6 (“Big Success”). Harold’s Club Collection.

he primary difference between the
Mills “Little Success” SUCCESS
and the “Big Success” JUMBO
SUCCESS is self evident. The JUMBO
SUCCESS is bigger! It was also more
expensive. The jumbo name doesn’t come

from the difference in the size of the
machines but rather from the size of the
cards on the five reels. Even that goes
back to the Leo Canda Company of
Cincinnati. Canda first made the PER-
FECTION CARD machines with the small

“Little Duke” size playing card symbols,
and followed that up in 1897 with a
counter or pedestal cabinet floor card
machine called JUMBO, the latter name
indicating that full size playing card repro-
ductions were used on the reels. Canda
kept the name action going with the SUC-
CESS line, adding a JUMBO SUCCESS
model with full-size card illustrations to
the line. So when pickup time came along
and the Canda machines were copied, both
SUCCESS and JUMBO SUCCESS mod-
els were made.

The Mills JUMBO SUCCESS has the
same relationship to the Caille JUMBO
SUCCESS as the smaller SUCCESS mod-
els do to each other. The Caille JUMBO
SUCCESS has more trim, whereas the
Mills model is fairly plain while still a
stylish improvement over the deadly dull
Canda version. The recognizable Mills
scroll work — similar to that of the Mills
SUCCESS, only larger — quickly identi-
fies this as the Mills model, but in this
case the Caille trim is quite close. The
real difference often shows up on the mar-
quee, the cast iron and plated metal frame
around the paper reward card at the top of
the machine. Here again, the Caille frame
is more ornate than the fairly plain Mills
frame. More often than not, the Mills
paper also carries a line at the bottom that
identifies the Mills Novelty Company in
Chicago. Models were the first model in
1898, No. 2 in 1900, No. 4 in 1901, No. 5
early in 1902 and No. 6 later in the year.
The models went up to No. 7 in 1903, but
No. 6 has the largest suviving population.

While the Caille machines seem to
outnumber the Mills machines in collec-
tions, there are quite a number of both
models around. This isn’t surprising as
these machines ran longer on locations
than most, with cigar counters, older bowl-
ing alleys, and pool halls still having them
in use as late as the middle 1930s. The
rusty old hulks of these “Iron Card
Machines” were often tossed into the alley
or a garbage truck in the late thirties and
throughout the forties as these old loca-
tions were remodelled or closed. At the
time few people cared about “old store
junk” so the machines went to their maker
to be plowed under in garbage dumps and
land fills across the country. Many of the
Surviving examples have been found
among the possessions of old pre-prohibi-
tion saloon or early post-prohibition tavern
owners, and they keep turning up. These
heavy floor card machines are finally
beginning to make it to museums, with the
example illustrated in the Harold’s Club
collection in Reno, Nevada.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Wain & Bryant (Caille)

kay, what is it? This one has had
()« experts stumped for a long

time, and the mystery isn’t com-
pletely solved. But the answers are close.

The machine class is that of a minia-
ture color wheel or small countertop trade
timulator version of the big automatic pay-
out color wheel floor machines. There are
a number of such machines that are active-
ly sought by collectors, such as the Caille-
Schiemer (later just Caille) BUSY BEE of
1901, the Caille SEARCHLIGHT of 1902,
the Caille WASP of 1904, the Mills
BULLS EYE of 1902, the Caille LIN-
COLN of 1912 and a number of others.
All of them tend to be rare, and valuable,
with the value based on more than the rari-
ty. They’re worth big money because they
look so good. The machines are cast iron
— a magic material to the antique coin
machine collector — which means that are
are old (or before the use of aluminum in
the early 1920s), highly decorated (the
details in cast iron are well known), richly
trimmed (with the iron usually plated in
nickel, copper or a marbelized alloy) and
made by major makers. The name Mills
or Caille or Watling on any machine made
in the first decade of the 1900s is worth
something. On a cast iron machine, it’s
money in the bank.

Then this machine came along. It has
a five-way coin head and an unmistake-
able Caille look, but no Caille name on it.
And that’s surprising. The Caille Bros.
Co. was a cast iron wonderland, with
Caille cast iron trim almost legendary, as
was Caille-Schiemer cast iron before it.
You can spot the machines by their looks
more often than not because they look so
different. After that confirmation is easy
because these considerate producers
proudly proclaimed their parentage by
putting their identification in and on their
machines. Study the castings and you’ll
find “CS” somewhere in the trim for
Caille-Schiemer, circa 1899-1901, or
“CB” for Caille Brothers, circa 1901 up to
about 1916.

But not on this machine! There’s
absolutely nothing to indicate the maker.
The only markings on the cabinet are
design elements at the top, a woman’s
head, circa early 1900s, and the copy
“FOR TRADE ONLY.” But the most
interesting markings are the bas-relief
signs of the zodiac on the bezel of the col-
orwheel. Only one other machine looks
like this, and it even carries the copy
“FOR TRADE ONLY” on its five-way
coin head. It looks either like the Caille
Bros. SEARCHLIGHT of 1902 or WASP
of 1904. But neither one of these two sim-

ZODIAC

Produced between 1902 and 1910

ilar machines has the astrological figures.
SEARCHLIGHT does provide clues
to its origin, however. The Caille advertis-
ing says SEARCHLIGHT has a “New
large size. New mechanism” and was
patented April 15, 1902. A patent check
proved it out, only it isn’t a Caille patent.
Design Patent DE-35,872 shows the
machine and credits it to William C. Mur-
dock and Ellsworth S. Bryant of Detroit.
Surprise of surprises, a check on both
names in the 1903 Detroit directory (they

don’t show up before or after) reveals a
slot machine producing firm called Wain
& Bryant Co., with Murdock as a pattern
maker. The theoretical name ZODIAC
has been given to this machine because it’s
logical. Two are known, and apparently
both were found in Michigan. Caille prob-
ably picked it up when the firm went
blooey at the end of 1902 and changed the
cabinet and the name to create the
SEARCHLIGHT and WASP.

THE 100 MACHINES

Star

STAR TRADE REGISTER

hings move fast in antique coin
machine collecting once people
know what they’re looking for.

Take the STAR TRADE REGISTER as a
classic example. When the first volume of

Star STAR TRADE REGISTER. Allan Pall Collection.

Produced between 1902 and 1910

——.. ~~ |

An Illustrated Price Guide to the 100 Most
Collectible Trade Stimulators came out in
November 1978, the Star machine was
briefly mentioned in the copy for the Yale
AUTOMATIC CASHIER AND DIS-

COUNT MACHINE. The copy says “But
if you stumble across a STAR TRADE
REGISTER, borrow money and buy it.
Until 1977 none were known to exist, then
two suddenly surfaced in Vermont. But
that’s all.”

That was true, then. What wasn’t
mentioned was that both of the known
examples were tied up in museums and
never could have made it to private collec-
tions. But that ever-present rule of finding
and collecting held true. If there’s one,
there’s more. Indeed there are, for two
more have shown up since then, one in
New England and one in Pennsylvania,
with some of the trade tokens spat out by
these monster trade stimulators showing
up in New Jersey — with serial numbers
different than any of the four machines
known to date.

The manufacturing company is the
Star Trade Register Company of Montpe-
lier, Vermont, first identified by tracking
down the customers buying Regina music
boxes as OEM (Original Equipment Mar-
ket) components. Star bought Style 15,
Style 11 and Style 11 movements only in
modest quantities between 1900 and 1908
or 1909. With the company name now
known, patents were checked, and the
whole machine revealed itself in U.S.
Patent No. 740,935 applied for on October
17, 1901. Corporate records of Vermont
show that the firm was incorporated June
5, 1903 for the purpose of “Manufacturing
and selling at wholesale and retail the Star
Trade Register and all other machines or
devices employing a similar mechanism.”
But still no machine.

Then the Vermont Historical Society
in Montpelier came up with one, then a
second finding, the latter still on location
in a small country store. They are mar-
velous. Put in a nickel and music plays,
lights flash and a dial spins and then ...
clunk ... you get a trade token for one, two
or three times the value of your nickel.
The museum has put their original find
back in shape, spitting out special museum
tokens on each play. The machine is serial
number No. 6, produced after 1903.
Tokens are known as high as serial num-
ber 69 with the author having a complete
set.

Then: bang! bang! Two more
machines showed up, going to collectors,
both needing restoration and both probably
fixed up by now. So if there’s four, maybe
there’s more. Now that a picture of the
machine has been published here it might
help identify some basket cases, or flag an
old machine sitting against the back wall
of an old store. Rumor has it that it has.

AUTOMATIC CARD MACHINE

Produced between 1903 and 1907

here aren’t many collectors of
Canda machines around because,
frankly, there aren’t many Canda
machines. It’s a name you should remem-
ber, because if you ever see a machine in
an antique shop or at a Flea Market that
carries the Canda name, borrow money
fast and buy it. I don’t have one; I wish I
did; someday I will. When I get my
Canda, I can only hope I get one as great
as this.

This is the Canda AUTOMATIC
CARD MACHINE, and it’s gorgeous.
But it wasn’t always that way, and it took
a lot of vision to pick it up. When the col-
lector found the machine, it had been
thickly painted with a few remaining
details hidden under a thick coating of
grime. Cleaning suggested that there was
more to be found under the paint, so it was
painstakingly stripped. What came out
was enough to make even the most jaded
collector gasp. The cabinet front is deco-
rated in delicately colored decals of flow-
ers, and the reward card revealed a
rewarding “DROP ONE CENT IN
SLOT/The Leo Canda Mfg. Co., Cincin-
nati, Ohio” panel of paper under the glass
in the beautifully cast marquee. But the
real find is the graphic display over the six
coin slots across the front of the machine.
The player had a choice of any one of six
slots, with the favored poker hand illustrat-
ed as a hand held “hand” with the cards
fanned out to provide a complete visual
display of what it took to win at poker.

The Canda AUTOMATIC CARD
MACHINE is a very topical machine. It
looks a lot like the earlier Sittman & Pitt
drop card machines, but has five reels in
the manner of the BONANZA “Tron Card”
machine instead of the flipping cards of
the earlier counter machines. It was made
in penny and nickel play models, and
seems to have been influenced by a whole
raft of machines. After The Mills Novelty
Company took over so many Canda
machines around 1901, the Mills influence
on the Canda AUTOMATIC CARD
MACHINE seems to have been signifi-
cant. The five-reel Royal Novelty Compa-
ny ROYAL TRADER made in San Fran-
cisco in 1902 is practically a prototype,
push-down lever and all. Only the cast-
ings are more elaborate. Even the Mills
YOU’RE NEXT of 1900 has similar cabi-
net graphics, while substituting flipping
cards and a plunger. Both of these
machines are illustrated and described in
the Volume 1 Trade Stimulator book.

The machine was also produced and
sold by the F.W. Mills Mfg. Co. of Hobo-
ken, New Jersey, in the early 1990s as the

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Canda

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Canda AUTOMATIC CARD MACHINE. Gary Sturtridge Collection.

SiX-way AUTOMATIC CARD
MACHINE, with the same name and
graphics as the Canda. F.W. Mills was
really Frank Mills, brother to Herbert S.
Mills of the Mills Novelty Company, so
you can see how interlocked this whole
business was in its early days. Only a cou-
ple of these artful Canda machines are
known, but there may be others under a
thick coat of paint somewhere.

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THE 100 MACHINES

Park
RED BIRD

Produced between 1903 and 1905

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Park REDBIRD. Joe Vojacek Collection.

o pick up where we left off some
Teste: back, when the Bennett
STUCKEY CIGAR stuck its face
out on the pages of the first trade stimula-
tor volume, it sparked the light of recogni-
tion. Chicago collector Joe Vojacek
popped up to say, “Hey, I’ve got one of
those, only ... mine is called RED BIRD
and it’s made by an outfit called the Park
Novelty Company in Kalamazoo.”
For sure, for sure! Compare the Park
RED BIRD to the Bennett STUCKEY
CIGAR and you’ll practically be looking

at mirror images. There are differences, of
course, but it’s the similarities that are so
obvious. No other trade stimulators have
this distinctive look, yet here are two
machines made by two companies in the
same town, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Obvi-
ously one copied the other. But which one
came first? Guessing is a bad business.
It’s like research, described by marketing
people as ‘“‘an assemblage of all the facts
and figures necessary to enable you to
come to the wrong conclusion.” It’s said
in a variety of ways, but the point’s well

taken. Guessing is just that, only a guess.
The odds are never better than 50:50, and
usually worse. That’s why hard facts are
sought as aggressively as possible, to at
least better the guessing odds, or hopefully
even come up with the answer.

So the tried and true procedure fol-
lowed for the identification of the Bennett
STUCKEY CIGAR was followed. With
lots of hope and confidence, the Kalama-
zoo directories were checked for 1900
through 1905. Nothing. So the spread
was widened from 1893 through 1913.
Still nothing. So the Dun & Bradstreet
Reference Books were checked for the
1890s. Nothing. The only thing that
showed up was a building contractor
named Davis Park, but that’s illogical. So
the Michigan State directories were
checked for 1895 throught 1915. Big flat
nothing.

Next the Secretary of State, Corpora-
tion Division, State of Michigan was
checked for incorporation records. Noth-
ing. Also, no old ads, catalogues or any-
thing like that that’s known shows RED
BIRD, or the Bennett machine for that
matter. So all we have to go on is what
the machines tell us. It says “RED/BIRD,
NIC,KLE MACHINE. Manufactured by
Park Novelty Co., Kalamazoo, Mich.” So
we know its name, function, coinage,
maker and origin. But to coin machine
collectors that’s not enough. If you could
only know one single fact about a
machine, what would it be? Name? Man-
ufacturer? Hardly! Most collectors agree
the key fact is the date. Once you know
that, much of the remainder can be sur-
mised,, or discovered. And that’s the one
thing we don’t know about RED BIRD.

So we guess! The cabinet looks
newer than the Bennett STUCKEY
CIGAR, with the Bennett machine having
a coin drop similar to the Waddell THE
BICYCLE, while the RED BIRD is
enclosed, with a changeable reward card.
We do know that the Park Novelty Com-
pany was a viable producer, as Park gum
vending machines have shown up.

Then another machine showed up,
and we learned more. Collector Jack
Freund found one with a small cork circu-
lar disc under the glass that bounces all
over when the wheel spins, to finally settle
at the bottom to indicate the number. And
Jack came up with the reason for the
name. It was made for the RED BIRD
cigar, “choice quality since 1893. Title
and design copyrighted by Van Dam Cigar
Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan,” the next
city north of Kalamazoo.

96 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Caille
JOCKEY

Produced between 1905 and 1912

ost trade stimulator and slot
Mieextit collectors think of the

large 3-way counter JOCKEY
card machine as a Mills product. Indeed it
is, and it is covered as such in the compan-
ion Illustrated Guide to 100 Collectible
Slot Machines Slots 1. But Caille Bros.
also made the machine, and a lot of them.
The surprising fact is that just about as
many early Caille JOCKEY machines
seem to have survived as Mills machines,
and in all probability some JOCKEYS
believed to be of Mills manufacture are
actually Cailles. The difference is fairly
evident when you compare both machines,
with the point of difference seemingly
going against all that collectors believe to
be true.

The unspoken rule has long been that
Mills made strong, reliable machines in
fairly plain cabinets whiile Caille made the
same machines with weaker insides but
then loaded the cabinets with gingerbread
and castings. The Caille JOCKEY coun-
ters all of that. For one thing, it is plainer
than the Mills machine, and it didn’t stay
in the Caille line anywhere near as long as
Mills sold their JOCKEY, first in its
orginal elegant early 1900s cabinet, and
later in its unimaginative and plain late- ee yee
twenties and early-thirties cabinet. Caille, ee ere, cree
it seems, sold their JOCKEY in the final :
heyday days of large card machines, and
yanked the machine when the going got
tough and the smaller counter machines
took over the sales. The Caille version
does have one distinguishing characteris-
tic, an enormous and elaborate marquee .
Two or three versions seem to have been
produced.

The Mills and Caille JOCKEY

machines had a common point. The
machine was first made in 1899 by The
Charles Moliter Novelty Manufacturing
Company in Chicago, quickly picked up ae
by The Automatic Machine & Tool Com- & 5 sae or =
pany in Chicago, and by Mills. Automatic leg SSE 2 ines ag
did more with the JOCKEY than anyone oe ee “2 Boe ne 5ST
before or apparently after, producing it in _ ” Caille JOCKEY. Allan Pall C Cotleenon’
counter and floor stand models, and as a :
floor model MUSICAL JOCKEY with a
musical attachment that plays ten songs.
There’s nothing that says that Mills or
Caille ever made a musical JOCKEY, but
the tantalizing prospect exists that they
did. A lot of machines were neither cata-
logued nor advertised. Find one and you
can throw this or any other price guide
away. A machine like that is a 500-pound
gorilla and is worth exactly what you say
it is.

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DRAW POKER

Produced between 1905 and 1916

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Fey DRAW POKER. Marsh Fey Collection.

6 ‘Cm Exhibiting” machines are
among one of the most sought
after class of trade stimulators.

Quite a number were made, starting with

the very early Sittman & Pitt and later

Monarch LITTLE MODEL CARD

MACHINE of 1891, on up through the

Reliance Novelty Co. and later Caille

Bros. Co. RELIANCE and Mills VICTOR

of 1896, the Clune VICTOR and later

Mills COMMERCIAL of 1900, the Canda
and later Mills AUTOMATIC CARD
MACHINE and YOU’RE NEXT of 1900,
and on and on. By now you’ve noticed
something. Seemingly, more than any
other machine class the card-flipping drop
card machines were lifted from one firm
by another with nary the bat of an eye or a
basic change in design, and more often
without a change of name.

Think that’s not confusing? Boy, it
sure is. Hear the name of a “Card Exhibit-
ing” machine (“Card Exhibiting,” later
‘Drop Card,” is the machine class name
assigned to the first such device, invented
in 1890 by a Chicagoan named Frank
Smith and made by the Ideal Toy Compa-
ny. Only one Ideal “Card Exhibiting”
machine has been found) and a maker
jumps to mind. Hear RELIANCE and you
think Caille; hear COMMERCIAL and
you think Mills. Hear DRAW POKER
and you think Mills, or at least most peo-
ple do. But you could also think Caille
and, surprisingly, Watling. If you’re
thinking origins, you’d best be thinking
Fey, or maybe even John L. Foley, who
first made a modified cabinet machine in
Chicago.

To most people that’s a surprise
because the Mills and Caille catalogues
and old ads are so positive in their propri-
etary approach to the machine. Caille
“Booklet M” of 1912 — commonly called
the “Little Blue Book” — states that “The
Caille Draw Poker machine ... is almost
human in its movements and proves
extremely fascinating.” Mills goes farther.
In the 1907 Mills trade stimulator cata-
logue — commonly called the “Little Yel-
low Book” — the copy says that “The
invention of the Mills Draw Poker
machine was a veritable stroke of genius.
To make a machine which, when played,
give the same thrilling pleasure and some-
thing of the excitement of an actual game
is nO mean accomplishment.” Indeed not,
but the Mills accomplishment wasn’t the
machine. That was probably done by
Charlie Fey in San Francisco, the Caille
words and the Mills silver-tongued copy
notwithstanding.

A lot of heat has been generated over
the argument that Mills “stole” the LIB-
ERTY BELL slot machine from Fey, and
that Caille and Watling copied Mills. Yet
here’s a trade stimulator that seem to be a
year or so older, with the same thing hap-
pening. Is it at all possible that Fey actual-
ly sold or traded his machine right to the
“Big Three” of the early 1900s, Mills,
Caille, Watling? Or maybe Foley? The
total technical transfer and the speed with
which it was done — and the fact it only
seemed to happen so completely with Fey
machines — suggests this possibility no
matter what has been written so far. In
any event, you get two spins for one nick-
el, and can hold cards with their buttons to
build the hand on the second spin. And
who was John L. Foley? That'll be in
Trade 3!

rom a collector’s
point of view, the
Progressive WIZ-

ARD CLOCK and its
many similar compatriots
share a unique distinction.
They’re the only coin-
operated chance machines
of fairly substantial value
that can sometimes still be
picked up for less than a
hundred dollars at flea
markets and in antique
shops — even some clock
shops — for the simple
reason that many dealers
don’t know what they are.
Of course, now that the
word has appeared in
print the chance of finding
such bargains in the future
can only get dimmer and
dimmer. But not every-
body reads the same book
at the same time, so if
you’re On your toes and
you know what you’re
looking for, your odds of
coming up with a token
vending clock are better
than most.

Mantle clocks for the
home in classic cases with
pillars were the rage from
the 1880s to the 1920s,
equivalent in popularity to today’s CD
player. Antique shops reflect this, and you
can find shelves full of them today selling
for $50 to $300, depending on the model
and age.

To go back, ir i9U3 an inventor in
Niantic, Illinois, coverted one into a token
vender with a coin slot on top, an operat-
ing plunger on the side, and a payout cup.
The player always gets one token, some-
times two or three. Each token is worth a
cigar. By 1904 the trade stimulator clock
had been made fully automatic. When you
drop the nickel in the slot, the clockwork
mechanism inside does the rest. Produc-
tion started in Niantic on a small scale, but
soon the idea caught fire for cigar shops.

Arrangements were made to market
the machine from St. Louis, first by The
William M. White Company, and after
1912, by the Loheide Manufacturing Com-
pany, a tobacco, cigar and chocolate deal-
er. Loheide called the machine WIZARD
CLOCK. Meanwhile, back in Illinois,
James G. Huffman (remembered as the
1895 inventor of THE FAIREST WHEEL)
had opened a new trade stimulator factory

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Progressive

WIZARD CLOCK

Produced between 1905 and 1913

in Pana, Illinois, which he ultimately
called the Progressive Manufacturing
Company, making an even more improved
version of the WIZARD CLOCK as well
as a model he called the DIXON SPE-
CIAL.

By 1910 there was hardly a cigar
counter in the country that didn’t have
one. Loheide WIZARD CLOCKS seem to
be the most common, with the Progressive
DIXON SPECIAL coming in second. The
amazing fact is how many of these clocks
found use. On one particularly good
antique “hunting trip” I picked up 4 or 5
old store photos from as many dealers at a
show in Milwaukee. When I got them
home and put the pictures under the glass,
3 of them had WIZARD CLOCKS on the
counter. That couldn’t happen unless the
clocks were endemic.

Progressive WIZARD CLOCK. Marvin Halpert Collection.

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he sheer numbers of the different
"[ispes of trade stimulators can be
staggering. One of the fascinating
facts about these coin operated games is
the constant outpouring of new ideas over
the years. Games got to be old hat in a
hurry. To their everlasting credit the game
makers shrugged and came out with newer
games, year after year. When the first
trade stimulator volume in this series was
written in 1978, it was assumed it would
be the only one. Before the ink was dry
the research data and photos were assem-
bled for this second volume, and since
then enough new trade stimulators have
been found in collections, or just found, to
run this series past five or six volumes. As
long as collectors buy these books and
cover the risk capital of the writer and
publisher so we don’t collectively and
totally lose our shirts, these volumes will
keep coming.
Six trade stimulator volumes means
six hundred different machines, plus their

THE 100 MACHINES

Griswold
STAR

Produced between 1905 and 1926

variations, running the known machines
well over a thousand. And all we illustrate
and describe are the machines that still
exist. We can only assume that an equal
number (possibly more) haven’t yet been
found, or haven’t survived the years if old
advertising and catalogues are any clue.
That’s a bunch of machines, and shows
how many were constantly turned our to
keep catching pennies and nickels or what-
ever. Take a look at the list at the back of
this book and you’ll find over a thousand
made in the late 19th century up to 1919.
An equally fascinating fact is the
durability of some of the machines and
their play principles. Feature this: some of
the really old machines, such as the
FAIREST WHEEL, THE BICYCLE, THE
BICYCLE WHEEL and others were still
on location in the late 1920s and into the
1930s, and probably right up to World
War II. Better yet, some of them were still
being produced in the twenties and thirties.
WINNER DICE was one, and the Gris-

wold wheels were another.

Remember the Griswold WHEEL OF
FORTUNE of 1895 (it’s in Trade 1) and
the Griswold BLACK CAT earlier in this
volume? Both used the cast iron flywheel
idea patented by Griswold and made by
the M.O. Griswold Company of Rock
Island, Illinois, with the earlier model
showing half a wheel and the latter a full
wheel. As the times changed, so did busi-
ness, and so did Griswold. In 1905 the
firm became the Griswold Manufacturing
Company, and in 1922 it became the
Thomas-Kerns Company, Not Inc. Maybe
the company changed, but the machines
didn’t. Not the old-time Griswold wheels
in any event. Griswold just changed the
cabinet of the old WHEEL OF FORTUNE
in order to show the full wheel, kept the
old play handle and delicate gold-striped
black background glass and made an old
game new as the STAR. It was a typical
drugstore change counter fixture in the
1910s and 1920s through the 1940s, most-
ly in small towns.

100

WRIGLEY DICE MACHINE

Produced between 1905 and 1908

ake heart, my friend. When

you start thinking that all

the good stuff has already
been found by other people and
that the only way for you to build
up a trade stimulator collection is
to spend a lot of money just to get
what everybody else has already
got, stop a moment and think
about the Dunn WRIGLEY DICE
MACHINE.

Until the summer of 1978
nobody even heard of this thing,
much less ever saw one. Then an
Iowa collector found one in the
basement of an Iowa country
store. There were a lot of confus-
ing things about the machine. It’s
small, with the dice thrown under
a small, thick glass dome. Or so
it appeared. But the dice were
missing, and they must have been
awfully small to fit in that tiny
dome. Also the machine label
says “You Can’t Lose” and car-
ries advertising for “Juicy Fruit”
gum with the name “W.K.
Wrigley Jr. & Co., Chicago, Ill.”
Wrigley’s gum? How come, and
when?Fortunately the machine
carries two other pieces of infor-
mation. In small type the reward
card states that the maker is Dunn
Brothers of Anderson, Indiana.
The card also states that the play-
er gets double the value of the
coin played “Whenever you throw
a two.” That left two mysteries to
be solved. Who is Dunn — more
importantly, when is Dunn — and
how do you throw a two? The
answers to both came out of luck.

Dunn Brothers turns out to
be an Anderson, Indiana producer
of business fixtures “ ... for store
and factory” that was a going
concern in the early 1900s. The
firm made commercial size
cheese cutters, computing scales and “‘nov-
elties.””. The dice machine is one of the
novelties.

Then the biggest mystery of all was
solved. Collector and antique dealer Bob
McGrath of Indian Rocks Beach, Florida
picked one of these dice machines up in
Georgia. It didn’t have dice; it had only
one die. According to McGrath, “You
deposit a nickel and depress the plunger.
The single dice flies up two or three inches
and then rests at the bottom. All the sides
show a 1, with only one side of the die
showing a 2.”

This machine is very well made, if

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Dunn

Dunn WRIGLEY DICE MACHINE. Rich Penn Collection.

not a bit crude in finish. The nifty part is
that the simple lever mechanism is com-
pletely visible behind glass. Trade stimu-
lator mechanisms are marvels to contem-
plate, but when their workings are visible
for all to see, they’re also an absolute mar-
vel to watch, too.

THE 100 MACHINES

Dunn

101

PERFECTION (Straight Glass)

Produced between 1906 and 1908

Dunn PERFECTION (“Straight Glass’). Allan Pall Collection.

he word is synergism! That’s when

One thing leads to another, but
where nothing would have happened

if the first event hadn’t taken place. When
pictures of the Dunn WRIGLEY DICE
MACHINE were circulated among
advanced collectors to find out if any more
existed, a River Forest, Illinois collector
said, “Hey, I’ve got one of those, only I
didn’t know what it was.” The interesting
part is that this latest addition to the Dunn
Brothers list of “novelties” isn’t a dice
game at all, but rather a small roulette
game. The base, cabinet, glass walls and

lever mechanism are the same, but not the
game. Instead of the small, thick glass
globe of the dicer, the Dunn PERFEC-
TION has a tall glass cylinder topped with
a metal cap. A wise move! The action
under the glass is a lot more enthusiastic.
The original model has the same _ round
globe as Dunn’s WRIGLEY DICE
MACHINE, but the tumbling marbles
soon led to this “straight glass” version.
The way the game works: there are
eight holes at the bottom of the glass
cylinder, two each painted yellow, orange,
white and blue. Two marbles are popped

into the glass by the plunger, and if the
colors match — be it two yellows, two
orange, two white or two blue — you get
twice the purchasing power of your nickel.
While all this play is going on the coins
are dropped to the floor of the glass walled
cabinet so the merchant can see how much
has piled up.

These machines have got to be rare.
Dunn Brothers wasn’t in business in 1902,
and by 1910 the firm had become the
Computing Scale Company. It is reason-
able to assume that these machines were
only made for a few years, and their rarity
today suggests they weren’t the hottest
thing on the counter three or four genera-
tions ago either. They are definitely
super-desirable because of their exposed
mechanism and their interesting play and
scoring principles. The Dunn PERFEC-
TION is particularly interesting as skill
played a part in the outcome of the play.
After a lot of practice, some control over
the bounce and placement of the marbles
in the colored holes can be achieved by
working the plunger. Maybe that’s what
killed this unique trade stimulator because
no merchant in his right mind would have
a trade stimulator on open display that
didn’t absolutely screw the customers.
That’s another thing that makes trade stim-
ulators so much fun. The chances of beat-
ing the game are mighty slim, but when
you do it, it’s almost like hitting the jack-
pot on a big slot.

Has anyone checked out Anderson,
Indiana? Who knows, there just might be
an old barn or warehouse there full of
these things. As a starter clue, the Dunn
Brothers address in 1906 was “Office and
factory, rear of 520 W. 10th.” Happy
hunting.

102 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Watling
DRAW POKER

Produced between 1907 and 1914

hat a beautiful machine — and
what a rare one, too! This is the
Watling DRAW POKER in the

Harrah’s Museum collection in Reno, and
it’s practically mint. But you know the
rule: If there’s one, there’s more.

Compare this beauty to the Fey
DRAW POKER some pages back, and
the Fey machine pales. But so what;
they’re different machines made by differ-
ent people for different tastes and reasons.
And the comparison is interesting. The
Fey trim is naive with flowers and a sim-
ple marquee. But the Watling is elegant
and stunning. The Watling is also on a
swivel base so the bartender could turn it
around from behind the bar to check the
show.

How come Watling made this ma-
chine, anyway? That’s the surprising part,
for Watling made far many more machines
than most historians realize they did.
Watling Manufacturing Company was a
highly creative outfit, making a lot of
machines that no one else made. But that
was only the price of admission, for
Watling literally copied everything that
anyone else made at the same time, pro-
ducing a line so broad it was never com-
pletely catalogued. To this day, if a “new”
machine is found that was made by the -
Big Three — Mills, Caille and Watling — at: TAP Cpe 50 STRAIGHT

s for Onc Nicket

Ten Cent Drinks or Cigars |

it’s generally a Watling machine that has { STRAIGHT FLUSH 20 3 ACES
been discovered. 4 ACES ds ts si aaa

The workings of the Watling DRAW ti anna | eu e meee
POKER are intricate, and that adds to the paneer oucees 6 ACES UP
charm of the game. On the reward card | FULL WAND " NDER ACES

you can read the payout, made in drinks or | | FLUSH 2 ACES

cigars. The interesting paper is above that.
as the tilted mele the flipping WATL * MEG. G0,, 153- end = jneasen st. « Chicage |
cards the copy says: . , —

TWO PLAYS FOR A NICKEL

1. Drop nickel and push lever down.

2. Hold any cards you wish by press-

ing down corresponding button top

3. Prizes paid only on second play

when nickel shows.

Get that neat touch. The anti-slug-
ging coin window doesn’t show the last
coin played until that second lever push.
Also, if you got a pair of Aces, at least you cas si ie
got your money’s worth, with two Aces Watling DRAW POKER. Harrah’s Museum Caliestion

paying I.

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THE 100 MACHINES

Bradford
LARK

Produced between 1907 and 1916

Bradford LARK. Bill Whelan Collection.

‘ , Phen trade stimulator collector
Bill Whelan of Daly City, Cali-
fornia first entered the gloomy,

mud caked basement of the old building in
the Russian River area , his eyes could
hardly make out the shapes on the floor.
Later, when his eyes were accustomed to

the faint light, things weren’t much better.

They were obviously coin machines, but
they had been flooded and buried in mud.
They were rusty. Rusty? That means
iron. The deal was struck, and another
collector find was hustled home for a care-
ful analysis of the trove.

Most antique enthusiasts, faced with
chunks of reddened, rusted iron, are fairly

103

quick to trade or sell off any unidentified
pieces of metal. But coin machine collec-
tors have a sixth sense about their buffery.
Show them a pile of old iron and they’ll
reach in deep and pull out a plum (without
batting an eye to indicate enthusiasm, or
value) that was once a glittering game.
The stories are legendary.

Bill Whelan’s Bradford LARK is one
of the legends. When he got the pile of
stuff home, the most interesting chunk was
a warped and super-rusty base with five
metal tubes on top. A little cleaning
revealed the name “THE LARK” on the
face casting, and the tubes turned out to be
dirty etched glass columns. Tender loving
care, sandblasting, nickel-plating, filing
and polishing led to the beauty you see
here, the Bradford Novelty Machine Com-
pany LARK, produced in San Francisco.
Once the cleaning and restoration got
underway, the machine virtually told its
own story as often happens. The award
card carries the name “Bradford Novelty
Machine Co., S.F.,” while the base has the
name “W.J. Young & Co., S.F.,” the name
of the operating firm. Tokens with the
Young name have also shown up. Even
the original paper survived behind the
glass, although in fairly poor shape. It
added the information that the Bradford
firm was located at 2144 Market Street. A
check of the San Franciso directories iden-
tifies the date of this address as 1912.

The restoration as shown in the pho-
tograph is not complete. New glass cylin-
ders have replaced the originals, some of
which were broken. The final step is to
frost the bottom inch of the glass cylinders
in the manner of the originals. That way
the dice could only be viewed from the
top, avoiding misreads from the side.

The Whelan LARK was long thought
to be the only surviving example. Then
the author had a chance to view a large
antique coin machine collection in Las
Vegas. Tucked in a back corner was ...
another Bradford LARK! It didn’t carry
the name “W.J. Young” but did have the
serial number 861. That suggests there
should be other rusted LARK hulks else-
where. But where?

NEW IMPROVED FAIREST WHEEL

Produced between 1907 and 1914

his unique machine was in the win-
dow of a Miami, Florida antique
shop for over three years between
1975 and 1978 before a smart antique slot
machine dealer snapped it up. It is the last
and final version of the James G. Huffman
THE FAIREST WHEEL, and any trade
stimulator collector worth their salt should
have spotted that right away. The tipoff is
the legend “Over 250,000 in use” on the
face of the machine. Only one machine
from this period in time could make a
claim like that. The next tipoff is on the
brass plate below the numbered disc,
which says “Pana Enterprise Mfg. Co.,
Mfrs. of Wood and Metal Novelties, Pana,
LL”

That’s where knowing something
about coin machine history pays off.
James G. Huffman made the first THE
FAIREST WHEEL in Decatur, Illinois in
1895. Later Huffman moved to Pana and
set up the Pana Enterprise Manufacturing
Company to make later versions of the
popular trade stimulator wheel. Then
Huffman changed the firm name to the
Progressive Novelty Company to make the
WIZARD CLOCK, described some pages
back, plus some other trade stimulatiors.
For a while both Pana firm names were
concurrently in use.

An interesting feature of this defini-
tive version of THE FAIREST WHEEL is
the hub, marked “Advertising Space.”
The idea was to have the storekeeper glue
on the store name, or a cigar advertise-
ment. The cigar companies supplied stick-
ers to fit, so the merchant had a choice.

A basic FAIREST WHEEL feature is
that the winning number (be it 1, 2 or 3)
could also be viewed from the back behind
the counter for a verified trade payoff.
Finally, the wheel is spun by the handle at
the bottom once a coin was dropped. And
that handle gave the wheel a hellava spin,
suggesting that a lot of these wheels were
broken, which might account for the rarity
of the machine. Well, they appear to be
rare as only a few are known for sure.

These advancements in design literal-
ly changed the name of the machine.
When this advanced model first came out,
it was called the NEW IMPROVED
FAIREST WHEEL. Bf that didn’t last
long, and the tried and true THE
FAIREST WHEEL name was soon back
in favor.

Why did so many collectors pass this
thing by in the antique shop? That’s hard
to figure, except that the shop owner kept
moving the price up as coin machines
increased in popularity. First selling in the
hundreds, by the time it was purchased for

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Pana Enterprise

Pana Enterprise NEW IMPROVED FAIREST WHEEL. Bill Whelan Collection.

somewhat over a thousand dollars, it was a
bargain.

The real bargain was its introductory
price. In 1912 this device sold for $15.00,
and they could hardly move them at that.
I’ve always thought there should be some
of these in Pana, Illinois, but never
checked it out. Maybe you should.

ow! What a beauty! This fabu-
lous dicer is in the Joe Welch
Museum Collection and seem-

ingly none are in private collections,
although the Harrah’s Museum has one.
More’s the shame, as this game is a
charmer. The maker is the Royal Novelty
Company of San Francisco, the same out-
fit that made the Royal TRADER
described in the first trade stimulator vol-
ume. Royal got started in 1893, and ran
right through World War 1 through the
end of the teens. Prohibition probably
knocked them out as the Royal machines
were strictly saloon pieces, although they
did get into the side vender Bell field dis-
pensing gum.

The Royal DICE is by far their most
unique machine. It is 13-way play. That’s
right; this gadget can take up to thirteen
coins, or six each for each dice spinner.
You have the choice of playing under 7 or
over 7 with two dice, on the left side for
one drink for a nickel, or double for a
dime. But the third slot is for two drinks,
or double, if you total 7 or 11. Next is one
drink for 2-3-4, 9-10 and 11-12; slot five is

THE 100 MACHINES

Royal
DICE

Produced between 1907 and 1912

Royal DICE. Joe Welch Collection.

for four drinks for 2-3 or 12 and finally
one drink for 6 or 8, with all plays doubled
on a dime. On the right you can play for
two drinks for two pair, two drinks for
three of a kind, five drinks for a straight,
six drinks for a full house, ten drinks for
four of a kind and fifty drinks for five of a
kind, all doubled on a dime.

But it’s the thirteenth coin — for one
coin only play if that’s the way you like to
play — that takes the cake. It’s got to bea
quarter and plays for both spinning mina-
ture dice tables. If you get six of a kind
the payout is $30.00 in trade or $75.00 in
trade for seven of a kind. That’s a lot of
money for 1907.

The real beauty of the game is the fact
that everything happens under clear glass;
you see the whole thing at work. You
even see the money pile up in the cash
box.

All sorts of attempts have been made
to buy or trade the Harrah’s Museum out
of its machine, but to no avail. The only
thing that’s left is to find one. It’s strictly
a California, and, most likely, strictly a
San Francisco machine. The many, many

105

different machines that were created and
operated in San Francisco and the bay area
between 1892 and World War I must have
representatives existing somewhere.
Where, you ask? Well, if it was me, I'd
start looking up the names of old pre-pro-
hibition saloon owners and try and track
down the heirs. It has worked in Minneso-
ta, Michigan and Illinois, so why not Cali-
fornia?

106

Ome coin machines stand alone in

stature, desirability and historical

interest. The Mills CRAP SHOOT-
ER is one of these machines. It has both a
familiar and an unfamiliar look, with both
an outgrowth of its coin operated design
heritage. Counter dice trade stimulators
were nothing new in 1908; by that time
they were fairly common and had a history
that went back almost twenty years. So
that’s familiar. The unfamiliar part is the
fact that on the Mills CRAP SHOOTER a
player could play up to six coins depend-
ing on the bet. The counter pay was $2 on
a 25¢ bet on craps, 40¢ for a dime bet on
getting 7 or 11, 20¢ for a dime bet on the
field, and three nickel chances that paid
20¢ for a 7 or 11, 10¢ for getting over 7
and 10¢ for getting under 7.

All of this action is produced by two
elegant round-corner red dies with flowery
numbers in white. Play a coin or more,
push down the finger-fitting plunger, and
whoose ... the green felt platform spins
and the dice start bouncing under the
domed glass top. That’s familiar, but on
the Mills CRAP SHOOTER the heft and
weight of the game is astounding. This is
a classic cast iron machine, and it’s heavy
as hell. That was great for the rascals who
liked to lift and shake the smaller and
lighter dicers that were so common in the
saloons of the day. But try that with a
Mills CRAP SHOOTER and you risk a
hernia and a broken finger, plus a ringing
bell. That’s unfamiliar.

Mills took two short cuts with the
CRAP SHOOTER. First of all, it’s practi-
cally a direct steal from the Fey ON THE
LEVEL, a machine that had the same play
action in an almost equally heavy cabinet.
But Mills swiped the cabinet, too, by tak-
ing the existing PILOT token payout sin-
gle-reel slot cabinet, (which they picked
up from the Paupa And Hochriem Compa-
ny a year earlier), made it narrower, and
stuck the dice on top, blocking out the
reel. The cabinet added a name to the
trim, with “Mills Crap Shooter’ in a sepa-
rate casting bolted on. But the PILOT her-
itage is solidly there, from the keeled-over
sailboat on front to the oarsmen in the
open boat on the side. That’s familiar.

This is a rare machine on three
counts. First, it never seems to have
shown up in any of the early Mills cata-
logues (unless some collector is hiding a
key piece of slot paper) and so is one of
the little-known “uncatalogued” machines.
Secondly, only two are clearly known to
exist in collections. There may be more,
but that’s the knowledgeable count to date.
Thirdly, and most uniquely, the Mills

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Mills
CRAP SHOOTER

Produced in 1908

CRAP SHOOTER had a super-short pro-
duction life. Mills quickly gave up the
ghost, and soon after the CRAP SHOOT-
ER was introduced, its name was changed
to (you guessed it!) ON THE LEVEL,
with a cabinet casting changed according-

ly.

Mills CRAP SHOOTER. Joe Welch Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES

Page

107

SALES INCREASER

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wad pe es ae ' it th rhe on ‘ ‘
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Bah A ARS EL ny ere Ea 2 AS aaa Ae Bae ia

Produced between 1909 and 1917

w .
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Page SALES INCREASER. Bill Whelan Collection.

tor collectors think they know just

about everything there is to know
about their super-select corner of the
world of collectibles, something comes
along to blow them out of the water.

You’re looking at one! This mar-
velous gadget, with its “Drinks on the
House” placard, was almost undiscovered.
It sat in an antique shop in California gold
country for a long, long time while collec-
tor after collector passed it by. The price
was stiff for a “mystery” piece, but
peanuts for a coin op trade stimulator from
the teens. The fact that it was dirty as the
dickens camouflaged the fact that it was a
classic piece. You have to really know
what something is before you take a shot

J ust when coin operated trade stimula-

like this one.

Well, maybe not. California trade
machine collector Bill Whelan didn’t
know how rare it was. When he first saw
it, he passed on it. It wasn’t until two
weeks later that he finally bought it and
took it home. A vacuum cleaner, polish,
elbow grease and imagination produced
this gleaming beauty. But what was it?
The scroll saying “Amount Purchased”
was the clue, and suggested a cash regis-
ter. So Whelan tracked down a cash regis-
ter collector. When they stuck it on top of
an old National and rang up a sale, a rod
came up through the top glass, pushed a
lever gear in the mechanism and spun the
pointer. Wow! The rest was easy to fig-
ure out. If the arrow points to the exact

amount of the sale, the drinks are on the
house, with the bartender no doubt hoping
the house was damn near empty.

Suddenly, with this discovery, it was
obvious that the gadget is indeed a coin
operated trade stimulator. Sure, the coin
can be coins or bills or whatever else goes
into the cash register, but they are coins,
and that’s what it takes to play. As for
stimulating sales, anything that sets up
drinks for the whole house is stimulating
as all get out.

It wasn’t long before the rest of the
mystery was solved. Once people knew
what it was, the job of supporting the
device with data got easier. When the
author was going over a lot of coin
machine paper with New York collector
Fred Fried after an eight course 2 A.M.
feed in a Chinese restaurant, Fried pro-
duced a 1913 Albert Pick And Company
catalogue. And guess what? There was a
full page of these things, with a “Profits
Shared” version, with Page SALES
INCREASER models for National, Ideal,
Defiance and Challenge cast registers.
Later checking of other catalogues showed
that the Mills Novelty Company also made
a line of these things in single dial, double
dial and wall-hanging models called the
PROFIT SHARING REGISTER. One
mystery remains. If Page made the
SALES INCREASER, who is Page? And
where were they? It took years to discover
that the firm was the Page Manufacturing
Company located in Chicago, with a
patent on the device allowed in 1910.
Since then a third example with the copy
“Free Merchandise” has been discovered
by vintage machine dealer Bernie Gold.

108

he durability of some trade stimula-
| tor forms is absolutely amazing.
Particularly since so many truly
clever coin games and chance devices had
short lives, while other lasted little longer.
There are some logical cutoffs in designs.
Most of the older wooden trade stimula-
tors conked off around the turn of the cen-
tury. A bunch more folded shop after the
financial panic of 1907 and the hard times
that came back a dozen years after the
grinding recession of the middle 1890s.
The biggest juncture (to pick up a typical
World War 1 staff officer expression that
worked its way into American business
talk in the 1920s. In the middle of a con-
versation one of the meeting attendees
would burst out, “At this juncture, I’d like
to ...” and swiftly change the subject
because he wanted to while everyone else
wondered what “juncture” had come to
pass. Anyone that ever worked with a for-
mer World War 1 officer has heard this
old turkey hundreds of times) was The
Great War of 1914-1918. It stopped coin
machine production, and when the
machines came back in 1918 and 1919,
and in the early twenties, everything had
changed. Plated cast iron had gone down
the chutes, soon to be replaced by alu-
minum. Wood gave way to painted and
baked sheet metal. Brass, copper and tin-
work bowed to white metal and pot metal
castings. Curved glass, glass domes and
decorated glass gave way to bezels and flat
and often protected glass. In the eyes of
many — including a lot of today’s trade
stimulator collectors — the style of the
past had given way to the mediocrity of
the future.

But what’s this? WINNER again?
You betcha! This time the maker is the
Unit Sales Company of Lincoln, Nebraska
with the cabinet still cast iron. Unit Sales
picked up the WINNER DICE name from
Caille Bros., and seemingly the whole
machine. They probably had a right, as
you'll see. The oldest examples of these
post-Caille machines carry paper that says
WINNER DICE and side or inside mark-
ings that credits the production to the Win-
ner Novelty Company in David City,
Nebraska. These oldies have cast iron
cabinets. Later (but not much later) exam-
ples also called WINNER DICE and in
cast iron cabinets carry paper that says
“Made by Winner Novelty Company,
Owensboro, Kentucky and Lincoln,
Nebraska.” So we see how the machines
made it to Lincoln, Nebraska. One enter-
prising Owner — antique collector/dealer
Larry Lubliner no less — took his machine
apart to see if he could learn more. He

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Unit Sales
WINNER DICE

Produced between 1925 and 1929

certainly did! Even though the machine
carried paper that said it was made by
Winner Novelty the insides of the casting
carried the unmistakeable “CB” markings
of Caille Bros. So Winner used Caille
machines, or parts, or the old molds.

Unit Sales was formed in Lincoln,
Nebraska in 1925, and first came out with

ee
, ey —_
“~ . +. eas
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* *

ae - ’ My R x
a ; rz "
pet “ a a0

Unit Sales WINNER DICE. Bill Whelan Collection.

f . - 4 ». *, ‘ - ° 4
» Age = ae: b a,
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Md os

~ 2 x
. = _ -
v

WINNER DICE in cast iron, and later in
aluminum with the name “Lincoln, Neb.”
cast in raised letters on the right side. As
testimony to the great desirability of the
style, no matter what age of cabinet mate-
rial or what maker, WINNER DICE values
hold true.

Mills PURITAN BELL.

ere’s another familiar face from the
He cloaked in the wave of the

future. But cloaked wasn’t enough
because soon it croaked. You probably
think you’ve seen a lot of these machines,
but be careful. There’s a trick to it. It’s
the cabinet and the reels.

The best way to explain all this is to
lead you to where it’s already explained in
detail. Go back to the Trade 1 trade stimu-
lator book and you’ll see the early Puritan
cast iron PURITAN and the later Mills
PURITAN. The reels have numbers on
them. The machine is a lot older looking,
with teeny tiny reels. In 1926 Mills
upgraded the machine and modernized the
cabinet, made the reel opening bigger, and

THE 100 MACHINES 109

Mills
PURITAN BELL

Produced between 1926 and 1927

Bell slot machine, and logically so. If you
find a bargain payout slot with number
reels it’s usually a tip off to a foreign
machine. But number reels had their
vogue in America first —that’s where the
Brits got them — and survived in small
production numbers until the late 1920s.
The Mills PURITAN BELL trade stimula-
tor about put them to bed, however, as the
machine didn’t really click. The reels are
numbered from 0 to 9, with payouts based
on matching three of the same number or
the same colors.

It seems to have worked for some
people. A Mills advertising flyer printed
in July 11927 quotes a druggist as saying
that “The Mills PURITAN ... has been in
my drugstore for about one year now and
during that time has taken in 86,000 nick-
els or about $4,300.” Imagine that, in
1927 taking in over four thousand bucks
without work. Even if the payout was a
thousand dollars — a payout rate of 25%
was about right — that’s still enough to
buy 150 of the machines new back in ‘27.
The PURITAN BELL was also important
enough to the Mills Novelty Company to
give its name to a company bowling team
in 1928. If you’re interested, other Mills
bowling teams were OWLS, FIREFLIES,
WIZARDS, BELLS and VIOLANOS.

Charles Deibel Collection.

did the cabinet in aluminum as the PURI-
TAN. Then they also made two models of
a newer PURITAN BELL, the first having
number reels and the latter having fruit
symbol reels.

Which makes the 1926 Mills PURI-
TAN BELL unique. The fruit symbols
were so hot, the number symbols in red,
white and blue were soon joined by Bell
symbols with production of both versions.
So as a result they called the machine the
PURITAN BELL (the name can be seen in
the top casting) in spite of its number
reels.

Number reels are a rarity on Ameri-
can machines, and most collectors associ-
ate them with the English TOTALIZER

110 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

National
TARGET PRACTICE

Produced between 1926 and 1928
he parallel between Ed Pace of the
Chicago Slot Machine Exchange,

later the Pace Manufacturing Com-
pany, and Pat Buckley of The National
Coin Machine Exchange, later his own
Reliable Coin Machine Exchange, and
even later the Buckley Manufacturing
Company, is just short of uncanny. Both
men were old stagers in the slot machine
business; both went into the used machine
business in Chicago in the twenties and
Started to make their own machines in the
late twenties; and both went on to become
major manufacturers of slot machines
sharing major portions of the booming
Nevada gambling machine market in the
forties and fifties.

In the beginning they even made the
same machines, although Pat Buckley
added a few promotional touches of his
own. Buckely started making virtually a
direct copy of the Mills TARGET PRAC-
TICE under the National Coin Machine
Exchange name called, naturally, TAR-
GET PRACTICE. Buckley continued to
make TARGET PRACTICE when his firm
became the Reliable Coin Machine
Exchange. Like Pace, he stuck his name
on the machine. The name “Buckley” is
molded in block letters on the shooter of
the later Reliable models. That’s some-
thing to look for when you’re checking
TARGET PRACTICE machines. Buck-
ley’s later machines also have a gum ball
vender.

The original Reliable Coin advertis-
ing claims that the TARGET PRACTICE
was the “only TARGET have solid alu-
minum cabinet” and that the Reliable was
also “the machine formerly made by the
old National with many added features and
improvements.” Then Buckley enlarged
the cash box and changed the 5/2/1/G/G/
G/G/G/1/2/5 reward chutes to three stars
and G/G/G/G/G/1/2/5 and produced the National TARGET PRACTICE. Bill Whelan Collection.
machine as the OPERATOR’S TARGET.

When the firm name was changed to

Buckley the whole line continued. If allof | TICE, while lesser or earlier models had a
this sounds confusing, believe me, it is plain cabinet. He kept both versions
clearer than finding a room full of “Tar- —_ through the Reliable and Buckley models.
gets” with National, Reliable and Buckley

names all over them and wondering what

they are. They’re all Buckleys, that’s what

they are.

There’s another way to spot them in a
flash; it’s the cabinet base design. The
early 1918 Mills TARGET PRACTICE
has a diamond design, while the later 1925
model has discus throwers. The Jennings
version, called TARGET, has Indian
archers. Buckley went distinctive with an
“antler” pattern scroll design shown here
on the original National TARGET PRAC-

THE 100 MACHINES

Bluebird
TARGET

Produced between 1926 and 1932

we PPE He es el

POS haa hing ba are amd ee aot

ee Le

Sur ges ae WA A seriglise

PSS iy, MONS ae
om tangs Pek, ia is pabeibaess +

Bluebird TARGET. Anonymous Pennsylvania Collector.

hades of the Mills TARGET PRAC-

TICE and the National TARGET

PRACTICE and all the others, only
tinny and garish. Up until the middle
twenties trade stimulators had been rather
sedate, usually made of wood, glass, brass,
cast iron and finally aluminum. But just
about the time they were starting to be
known as counter games, they also started
to take on the colorful characteristics of a
mechanical sideshow. Once again it was
the materials used in their construction
that led the way to a change in appearance.

Because of the hard usage inflicted on a
trade machine, great care had to be taken
to be sure the cabinet finish stood up long
and well. The available paints easily
chipped or wore off of wooden or cast iron
cabinets. So the wooden cabinet machines
were usually stained and thickly varnished
(the latter a nightmare to a restorer) while
the iron cabinets were usually plated.
When aluminum came along, it looked so
good all by itself that little was done to
alter its appearance. As the years went by,
casting details were brightly painted and

111

design panels were filled in with bright
colors giving the aluminum cabinet
machines their own paint can rainbow
look.

But it was the stamped sheet steel
machines that turned out to be the colorful
ones. In fact, the availability of cheap thin
sheet metal, medium size stamping presses
and baked enamel finishes quickly made
itself felt on counter games. The results
are — well, the best word is probably
tacky. The Bluebird TARGET is the trash
classic machine. It is a straight copy of
the Mills TARGET, only it’s all metal
with a wooden pinfield. Bluebird
described the finish as “our own special
crackle paint in turquoise blue,” adding the
offer of “special colors on request on
orders of 100 or more — no additional
charge.” Thousands upon thousands of
these inexpensive machines were sold, so
you can just imagine the variety of “spe-
cial colors” that are out there in the world.
You could make a collection out of the
varieties. As for telling possible repros
from the reall thing, that’s easy. Modern
paints don’t chip. The old paints did. A
lot.

A word about Bluebird: The firm was
located in Kansas City, Missouri, and was
called Bluebird Products Company. They
made a wide variety of counter games.
Bluebird TARGET was made in both plain
and gum ball models.

112

auction buyers and coin machine col-

lectors in general at their word, the
Jennings FAVORITE is a favorite. It
would seem that the only people who
don’t like the machine are those that
haven’t seen it yet. Why such an outpour-
ing of adoration for a coin-shoot target
machine, for that’s what it is. Its good
looks lead the way; there is no other target
game quite like it, and the only ones that
come anywhere near its heft are some
Strange baseball and gum vending targets
made in wooden cabinets by a number of
almost secret and very short-lived makers.

The Jennings name also adds some of
the charm to the FAVORITE, and the
horse race graphics in bold and brassy col-
ors top it off. The Jennings FAVORITE
was originally promoted as a companion
piece to the Jennings TARGET, literally
putting Jennings in the trade stimulator
and counter game business for the first
time. The original advertising in Novem-
ber 1926 called the FAVORITE, “‘the lat-
est addition to the Jennings line. It is a tar-
get machine with a ball gum vending
attachment. A ball of gum is automatical-
ly vended on each play. The exceptionally
attractive appearance and the simplicity of
this little machine truly make it a
favorite.” Later advertising in the summer
of 1927 added the fact that “The
FAVORITE gumball vender will stimulate
trade. It’s a real game of skill with the
novel reward card provided eliminating
any objectionable characteristics.”

If the Jennings FAVORITE had any
problem it was Jennings. Long known as
a major producer of heavy-duty payout
Slots, the Jennings firm was never deeply
committed to the field of trade stimulators
and it was just about this time that the coin
machine field started to get crowded with
smaller makers batting out the new
counter games in droves. As counter
game specialists they picked their market
and set to work to pick its bones. The Jen-
nings firm just wasn’t constituted that
way, and wasn’t willing to scrap with a
bunch of cat-and-dog producers for the
nickel-and-dime counter game business.
Even their later FAVORITE promotion
proved the point. By the end of 1929 Jen-
nings was promoting the FAVORITE as
“a territory opener (that) develops loca-
tions for larger play machines.”

Jennings showed where their heart
was, and FAVORITE was off their list by
1931. In much the same way, only in
reverse, collectors now show where their
heart is ... with money. The Jennings
FAVORITE is valued higher than any

|: you take the finders, owners, dealers,

Jennings
FAVORITE

Produced between 1926 and 1930

Jennings FAVORITE. Bill Whelan Collection.

other counter target game ever made, no
matter how old, and is worth many times
the value of its contemporary targets.

THE 100 MACHINES

ATLAS (Graham)

113

MIDGET ROULETTE

2x
Ree

3.2) : ey *
-

( Nhat yu Confusing! Confusing!
What you’ re looking at is one of the
many, many locally assembled

MIDGET ROULETTE counter games

originally produced as components by

Charlie Fey in San Francisco and shipped

all over the country in parts and pieces.

Fey had a good thing going with his small

aluminum cabinet dice and roulette

counter games in the middle 1920s. He
made them for himself, and then gave
every back-alley, basement and garage
shop across the country a cheap chance to
produce their own exclusive machines.

The outfit that made a big deal out of it

was Mills Sales Company in Oakland,

California, and their MIDGET (they called

it the 36 LUCKY SPOT) is described in

detail in Trade 1. No one else made that
much of a splash.

As for the many others, their produc-
tion track isn’t quite as clear. A guess
suggests that Fey sold at least a dozen pro-

ye ian} SF
ASS
eS
fhe
a% "e
} a

Atlas (Graham) MIDGET ROULETTE. Bill Whelan Collection.

Produced between 1926 and 1929

a
Pees
— Nie ocr , ay F
> A Eh pate t yg
tlt hoiahaes
‘; ae ie
* mit

~
ee

ducers on the idea, and to this date only
half of them are known. In large measure
the area where the machine is found gener-
ally indicates the maker, if not by name, at
least by geographic area. What Fey did
was travel the country and sell the idea
wherever he stopped. A big stop was to
visit his friend, Billy Schmidt, in Fond Du
Lac, Wisconsin, a trip he frequently made,
probably to go fishing and buy cheese. It
was at one of the big cheese stops, at
Kaukauna, Wisconsin, that Fey sold the
Ristau brothers on the idea of making the
MIDGET to add to their line of automatic
photographs produced by their Atlas
Manufacturing Company. So by the
spring of 1926 Atlas was in the trade stim-
ulator business. When asked about the
venture years later by the author, the sur-
viving brother said that the parts for the
MIDGET ROULETTE and the dicer were
shipped in, assembled and boxed by Atlas,
and the venture was a flop. Fact is they

had boxes of the parts around in their
garage and basement for years until they
threw them out a few years before I asked
the question. Ditto for their juke box (they
made four models) which also didn’t do so
well.

The other fairly identifiable maker
(assembler to be exact) is the L.C. Graham
Company of Albany, New York. Graham
made the Fey MIDGET and 3-IN-1 dicers
and the MIDGET ROULETTE machine.
Even though these machines practically all
look alike, at least on some the paper is
different. Incidentally, a variety of reward
cards for these machines have been
reprinted by collector Bill Whelan, P.O.
Box 617, Daly City, CA 94017, so if
you’ve got one of these machines to spiff
up, or any trade stimulator for that matter,
contact Bill.

114

verybody and anybody made the
Hiakcer. and when they didn’t

make it as the TARGET, OPERA-
TORS TARGET or TARGET PRACTICE
they made it as something else. But it was
the Exhibit Supply Company of Chicago
that carried the whole idea the extra mile
and even farther. Exhibit created a whole
line of chance, vending, amusement and
trade stimulator machines out of the lowly
TARGET to fill a catalog and the change
counters of the country with target coin
shooter machines with different names and
different play fields that all operated basi-
cally the same way.

This one is PLAY BALL, and the
play field is a baseball diamond with holes
at the catcher position, bases and key
infield and outfield spots. Fact is, the play
is in direct reverse of what is normally
expected with a coin machine. Getting
caught in one of the holes, or catcher’s
mitt, is out. You’ve got to shoot the penny
around and through the holes to score, and
if the penny makes it past the playing field
and into one of the “hit” slots at the bot-
tom, it comes right back out so you can
play it again, or take the money and run.

When you get games like this the
paper and instructions are very important
Or you just might never ever figure out
how the game is played. The key paper on
the Exhibit PLAY BALL is a small panel
at the top of the play field originally held
in place by six brads that says “A Game
of Skill/Test Your Batting Eye/Make a Hit
and get your Penny Back.” That explains
the play action fairly well with one excep-
tion. What happens if you get a run or
two? That’s where trade stimulator
knowledge comes in huiidy, because that’s
something you’c never find on a machine
for the simpie reason that it would have
been illegal in lots of places. For the
Exhibit PLAY BALL also paid off. Over
the counter to be sure, but the spice of
trade stimulator life is here, only hidden.

When the games don’t reveal the
award schedules you’ve got to get lucky
and find the original instruction paper
(sometimes pasted or loosely tossed
inside), old advertising or a catalog that
tells the secrets. The 1931 Exhibit Supply
Catalog, which is available as a reprint,
tells the story.

“The fastest and most profitable
penny machine made ... a big repeater.
You bat the penny like a ball. If the penny
drops into a player’s hands, you’re out. If
you’re skillful enough to bat the penny
through the outfield, you score a 1, 2, 3
base hit, and get your penny back. A prize
can be given if the penny goes into | Run,

Exhibit
PLAY BALL

Produced between 1926 and 1935

; “A GAME OF win >
Tre oun BATT ie, tre
PERS & ote 2&E

ee vee

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a
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n 4 See + ee
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4 a, We Par eae .
- 98 =e
a ss ‘ + pe
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4 fear eae ane - phe a perme Neg 3
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A uit: A ei gO espe wie oe atl cox
“— a < «! ak os « = - foun 2 ony

Exhibit PLAY BALL. Bill Whel

2 Runs or a Home Run.”

Because of its baseball features some
collectors might want to classify PLAY
BALL as an arcade game. But its chance
features make it a true trade stimulator,
putting it squarely in this book and not
another.

n Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES

Monarch (Fey)

PEE-WEE ROULETTE

Produced between 1927 and 1930

me eS A Rs
Ot a RO’ Meet Oe BOP foot
ee PAS oO ail Pe aoe

¥ - > o os > 2 De

Seg ey a

onarch (Fey) PEE WEE RO

game in two versions, as a dicer and

as a roulette wheel. The MIDGET
was made both ways, and just as Fey got
everyone accustomed to that name, he
redesigned and came back with the same
two games as the PEE-WEE. The basic
game isn’t much different, but the cabinet
is somewhat refined. What PEE-WEE
really did was give Fey a chance to offer
new exclusives and “different” machines
to his next batch of parts customers, giving
the confusion a chance to start all over
again.

As before, Fey made PEE-WEE for
himself, as well as for others as parts and
components. The big PEE-WEE assem-
bler and marketer was the Monarch Sales
Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, a divi-
sion of the Silver King Novelty Company.
Monarch started out with the Fey PEE-
WEE in the summer of 1927 in both dicer
and roulette models. They called the dicer

He made his classic plunger counter

~~. “74
Ss me

ULETTE. Bill Whelan Collection.

PEE-WEE DICE and had an award card
called 36 LUCKY PLAY. The roulette
model, as illustrated, was called PEE-
WEE ROULETTE.

Then Monarch got uppity. By the fall
of the year, the firm name was changed to
the Monarch Manufacturing and Sales
Company, and a whole new PEE-WEE
made its appearance, only this time the
PEE-WEE name was missing. Instead
Monarch re-cast an enlarged cabinet with
a built-in gumball vender to put bulldog
heads on the side. They called the game
BULLDOG DICE, and it’s probably the
rarest of the Fey-type counter games.
Monarch kept the 36 LUCKY PLAY
award card, but made the six dice on the
platform spinner two of one color and four
of another. That let the player count the
spots faster, or play craps on the side.

If you think this wraps up these Fey
counter games with four photos and
descriptions in two volumes, you’ve got

another guess coming. There’s wads of
models of these games and a proliferation
of names. Here’s a few: 3-IN-1 3-PLAY-
IN-1, 3 MUSKETEERS, 36 LUCKY
SPOT, 36 LUCKY PLAY, 36 LUCKY
SPOT MIDGET, LUCKY SPOT
MIDGET, PEE-WEE, 36 ROULETTE,
MIDGET, ROULETTE, 36 and on and on.

116 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Caille
JUNIOR BELL (“Style 2”)

Produced between 1928 and 1932

he Caille center-lever FORTUNE
VENDER and its subsequent Caille
JUNIOR BELL development were
just about the end of the line for the
BABY BELL and BALL GUM VENDOR
style of counter trade machines as
described in the first trade stimulator vol-
ume. They all look so much alike it is
hard to tell them apart, but by 1930 they
all looked so familiar they were quickly
dated and up for replacement by newer
counter games. Caille first made the FOR-
TUNE for the Superior Confection Com-
pany in Columbus, Ohio, a combination
Operator-jobber organization run by a
well-known slot machine figure named
Gus Snyder that had operator tentacles that
reached from Ohio into Pennsylvania,
Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and other
states around its periphery. The Superior
FORTUNE of late 1926 has fruit symbols
with very corny fortunes that didn’t hide
the reward rate very well. For instance, a
“12” winner with three plums led to a for-
tune that said “You are most generous,
which is indicated by your large, well-
formed ears. You couldn’t be more gener-
ous if your ears were 12 times as large as
they are.” The other winning combina-
tions were equally open and, well, not
exactly flattering.

The all-but-identical Caille FOR-
TUNE VENDER of 1927 used colored
shields as symbols with equally innocuous
copy in the shields. Coin play was “penny
to quarter,” with a thick little window
revealing the payout rate based on the visi-
ble last coin played.

The end of the line was this Caille
JUNIOR BELL (Style 2) of 1929, practi-
cally the same darn iiachine, only this
time it has fruit reels including the funny
fortunes. Caille said it “Makes good
everywhere. 3 machines in |. Tells for-
tunes. Vends ball gum. Miniature Bell —
Fortune teller — Ball Gum Vender.” By
the early thirties the tall, upright “Baby
Bell” style was already an antique. So was
Caille Bros. The firm that had at one time
been the only major rival to Mills found
itself in trouble as a fifth-rate producer,
ranking behind Mills, Jennings, Watling
and Pace. So they sold out, with the new
owner quickly cutting out counter games.
Bad fortune.

7s Se = aia ohne es rig WE a Fes a ae tf = -
hy 4 . “ . ~~ : ¥e
_ oe hy : be
” 4 - —e ba
* : ¢ . 4 - ~~ x :
; : : i * : 2 ” v ¥ “a 3

Caille JUNIOR BELL (“Style 2”). Bill Whelan Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES

Buckley

117

PURITAN BABY VENDOR

¥ & TEs
- % *~' -
> wey a

F ial

Buckley PURITAN BAB

ounter game producers were always
looking for something familiar for
fear of shaking up their operator-
customers. It’s a hard business, coin
machines (it still is) because the only thing
that counts is the take. The measurement
of machine effectiveness is the number of
coins in the cash box at collection time, no
matter how clever the game or how good
looking the cabinet. The performance of
past machines was always well known to
the people in the business, and in order to
capitalize on the record of a successful
machine as well as put over a new one, the
makers often took old names and stuck
them on new games.
The machine format that ushered in

‘VENDOR. Carole Whelan Collection.

Produced between 1929 and 1932

‘er es

: y* iy *

the Golden Age of counter games was
introduced just that way. A Chicago tool
and die man named J.M. Sanders engi-
neered an even smaller counter game than
the BALL GUM VENDORS of the twen-
ties, making the machine under his own
name and selling it prefabricated under
private label. The case is boxy, the mech-
anism simple, and the design right in keep-
ing with the newly found Art Deco envi-
ronment of its era. One of the first to grab
the machine for his own distribution was a
Chicago operator and used machine dealer
named Pat Buckley. Buckly had set up a
business called the Reliable Coin Machine
Exchange on the near west side of Chica-
go, selling Caille and Mills machines, and

any old machines he could get his hands
on, as well as a growing line of his own
machines first made elsewhere, and later
in his own facilities. The boxy Sanders
machine entered the Reliable line as a
“penny to quarter” machine called the
PURITAN BABY BELL, a name that
combined the profit-making history of the
earlier PURITAN with the acceptance of
then current “Baby Bell” machines. Over
2000 were sold between May and Decem-
ber 1928 alone with sales climbing.
Buckley jumped into the manufacturing
business as the Buckley Manufacturing
Company, producing the machine in one
form or another until the late thirties.

Buckley produced the machines by
the jillions, with most of them going pri-
vate label. One big customer was the Lion
Manufacturing Company, a forerunner of
the Bally Manufacturing Company. Lion
bought the machine with its ball gum
vending attachment and sold it through its
Midwest Novelty Manufacturing Compa-
ny division as the Lion PURITAN BABY
VENDOR. Does all that sound important
enough? Well, actually, it was all one
man with a lot of corporate names on
paper. Lion Manufacturing Company was
the name of a family-held holding compa-
ny, and when Ray Moloney, the genius
behind all this, formed Bally a few years
later he even made that a division of Lion.
Imagine that, the mighty Bally coming out
of counter games.

The preferred moded in all this is the
1932 Buckley version shown here, with its
fortune Black Cat and horseshoe reels. A
rare addition is the penny-only coin
accepter, which added up to a lot of
machinery for a counter game.

118

and probably ugliest baby bell type

counter game ever made, yet one with
an amazingly high degree of collector
interest. The word “it” is used advisedly
as the machine doesn’t give away its ori-
gin. Actually it often does, but collectors
aren’t aware of the meaning of the “F”’ or
the mention of “Field” that sometimes
appears on the paper or the casting.
“Sometimes” is used advisedly, too, as
there is a wide variety of these machines
with different names, different reels, dif-
ferent cards and different castings.

You’ ve got to say this for it: the Field
BABY VENDER is different. It started
out as a machine called THE GYPSY
made by The Field Paper Products Com-
pany in Peoria, Illinois, in 1928. The
Fields (father and son) were fairly well-
known punchboard makers in upper cen-
tral Illinois and were already selling to a
national market. Looking backward, the
basic machine has an even earlier history.
It was created in 1927 by an Indianapolis
outfit called the Keystone Novelty and
Sales Company run by a guy who used to
work for one of the branches of the Silver
King Novelty Company in town. Key-
stone made the original machine in two
models, with fruit reels as the PURITAN
BELL and with fortune reels as the PURI-
TAN BELL FORTUNE. The January
1928 introduction of the machine was
somewhat less than dazzling, and before
the year was out, Keystone was out and
the punchboard makers of Peoria had a
coin machine in their line. The Fields
gussied it up as far as it would go without
changing much and called it THE GYPSY.
It was still a turkey, so they came back
with it early in 1929 as the “improved
1929 model” GYPSY FORTUNE
TELLER. This time it had, if you can
believe the 1929 advertising, “new ... non-
clogging coin chute, ‘patent leather’ reels,
silent and long spinning reels, and a dozen
other features.”

Not enough! The GYPSY didn’t see
the future very well, or Field saw the
handwriting on the wall. So it came back
again at the end of 1929 as the BABY
BELL and as the 2-IN-I, or BABY
VENDER, with the latter having gumballs
in a window and a dispenser below. By
**2-in-1”’ Field meant you could run it wide
Open as a gambling machine in “open ter-
ritory,” or just set it on the counter as a
“straight penny gum machine.” The fact
that it also takes a nickel, dime or quarter
sort of belies the gum vender aspects of
the BABY VENDER, but everyone lied a
lot in those days. ,

I: is perhaps the plainest, most different

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Field

BABY VENDOR

Produced between 1929 and 1932

i) a ea
‘ AMES cies
we

This is the coin machine that put
Field, later to become The Field Manufac-
turing Corporation, in the trade stimulator
and payout “jacks” business, and once
they got going, things moved fast for
Field. That this ungracious, poorly printed
teeny reeled, pseudo-modern-looking
counter game got them moving is almost
beyond belief. But the Fields had a pro-
motional way about them that caught the
eye, ear and pocketbook. Field called this
“The Rolls-Royce of baby venders,” and
there are enough of these little devils
around to suggest that some folks believed
them.

—

? Ray =

Field BABY VENDOR. Stan Harris Collection.

Pane “

THE 100 MACHINES

H.C. Evans

119

SARATOGA SWEEPSTAKES

. hse

any collectors think that the non-
IM toma payout trade stimula-
tors and counter games of the
thirties were fairly small to fit the change
counter. True, most were. But there are
some large exceptions, and I mean large.
This game, for instance. The machine is
almost two feet square and weighs a ton,
or at least feels like it. It didn’t suddenly
get created out of whole cloth, for it is
actually a coin-op version of an old carny
come-on and grind game.
H.C. Evans and Company of Chicago
was in the carnival and “game room”’ (i.e.,
heavy gambling) equipment business since
around 1905 and built a tremendous repu-
tation in the field. If you wanted to outfit
a complete carnival, amusement park,
county fair or skill operation, you could
get everything you needed at H.C. Evans
except the buildings or the people, and
even there they could help and set you up
with the right sources. One of the classic
amusement park devices was an enormous
six-foot diameter circular track with from
12 to 30 horses called the EVANS’
PORTABLE CANDY RACE TRACK.
Candy, hell! The local yokels lost their
ass on these games when the park and
carny people got them betting their pea
picking money on the winners. The mon-
ster race games were so successful Evans
made a smaller countertop version before
World War 1 with a special layout or bet-

Produced between 1932 and 1935

H. C. Evans SARATOGA SWEEPSTAKES. Larry Lubliner Collection.

ting cloth to match. Called the MINIA-
TURE RACE COURSE, and 18 inches
square with exposed horses on a circular
track on top, the game was operated by
pushing down a handle once all the bets
were on the felt. Just because it was
smaller didn’t make it any less deadly, and
throughout the twenties the MINIATURE
RACE COURSE scooped up the pocket
chance of a generation of naive carnival
and park patrons.

By the end of the twenties, and with
the coming of the depression, the old
carny slickers were fast disappearing. And
so was the Evans business in that market.
By that time the Evans offerings were
beginning to stay indoors, with roulette
layouts, marked cards and dice, and even
slot machines and counter games made by
others taking over the catalog pages.
Rather than just job the machines of others
for a small mark-up, Evans added a coin
mechanism to its racing game, put the
horses under glass, and produced
SARATOGA SWEEPSTAKES. Six hors-
es spin around the track, and one wins
with a snap stop.

SARATOGA SWEEPSTAKES can
be found in a straight gambling “Pari-
Mutuel Model” or in the trade stimulator
“Operator’s Model with Mutuel” with
award cards (often missing) indicating
merchandise awards. In late 1933 the
SARATOGA SWEEPSTAKES SPECIAL

was introduced, adding an odds indicator
and an anti-slugging coin detector in plain
and gumball models. With that, H.C.
Evans was in the coin machine business
for keeps until after World War II.

120

CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE

Produced between 1933 and 1935

hen An Illustrated Price Guide
W to the 100 Most Collectible Slot
Machines — the first book in
this series of collector guides of coin
machines and relative pricing, and the one
in the dark orange cover — was produced
in the summer of 1978, it looked like a
one-shot book for the few collectors of
chance element coin machines. Therefore,
it had to include a lot of stuff. So payout
slots, consoles, trade stimulators and
counter games were all tossed into the mix
to get as much information disseminated
as possible.

Then, whammo! The book took off
like hotcakes, and collectors crawled out
of the woodwork all over the country.
They’re still crawling out (or crawling into
the field, to be more exact) and the infor-
mation demand keeps getting more and
more demanding. A field that nobody
knew much about in 1978 suddenly
spawned a raft of knowledgeable collec-
tors in less than a dozen years. That’s
great for all of us, and the greatest part of
all is that many collectors have become
truly dedicated researchers, adding new
facts and figures to what we already know.
By the 1990s coin machines had pushed
themselves into the middle of a “knowl-
edge explosion” to quote a phrase used by
the computer people.

But that means we’ve got to do some
backtracking to get organized. The catch-
all aspects of that first volume are part of
the past, with two series of books already
off and running separately covering payout
slots and trade stimulators, and even more
books coming covering arcade machines,
pinball games, gum ball machines, vend-
ing machines, mechanical music and oth-
ers.

So, in the interest of getting orga-
nized, some of the trade stimulators and
counter games in that first volume are
being repeated in the trade stimulator
series to both put them where they belong
and to add more information to that which
has already been printed.

The Daval CHICAGO CLUB
HOUSE is a good place to start. To con-
tinue the story started in the volume one
slot book, the machine came with five card
reels plus a conversion kit to cut the win-
dow down to three reels, substituting fruit
or cigarette symbols. Rare as these ver-
sions may be (mostly because the conver-
sion parts were lost or tossed out) there are
some of these machines around. The one
shown here is a classic example of this
version. This is a practically mint, super-
clean and unrestored example of the
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE with the con-

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Daval

7" +: ” ”
i Saas Y ante z ‘“ ig
a 8 af nee 3 >
a bine cf og” *

version kit in position in the collection of
Bill Whelan of Daly City, California. Its
serial number is 102, the lowest Daval
serial known. This version also shows off
the heft and strong appearance of the
machine and gives you an idea why this
large and imposing baby bell type hit the
market like a thunderbolt and set the pat-
tern for many of the larger and elaborately
designed counter games of the future, a
pattern that didn’t end until counter games
ended in the 1950s.

/s -

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“Wont CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE. ‘Bill Whelan Colleodan

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THE 100 MACHINES

A.B.C. Coin
JOCKEY CLUB

Produced between 1933 and 1935

A.B.C. Coin JOCKEY CLUB. Bill Whelan Collection.

ho ever heard of A.B.C.? The

W JOCKEY CLUB is fairly well-

known to collectors that get

around to the auctions or shows, but after

that even the JOCKEY CLUB tends to be

a mystery machine. Suffice to say, the

A.B.C. Coin Machine Company Inc.

JOCKEY CLUB is out of the mainstream

of counter game collecting, and that makes
it a highly desirable piece.

JOCKEY CLUB is bigger than most
counter games of its day and has the addi-
tional distinction of having an attractive
wooden cabinet with a cast aluminum
front in art deco design. The design alone

says 1933 quick as a bullet, and the date is
right on target. A.B.C. Coin was set up by
a former operator at 4916-4922 W. Grand
Avenue way out on the northwest side of
Chicago. The timing was perfect, for the
machine was introduced just as the 1933
Chicago World’s Fair got started. The fair
ran another year and so did A.B.C., but
after that they both came to an end.

That’s sad, because the JOCKEY
CLUB is a marvelously built machine.
It’s not tinny or cheap, and has a certain
class to it that is rare for counter games of
the 1930s. It is also fairly rare, probably
as a function of its short production run.

121

The rarity also depends on the model. The
original JOCKEY CLUB had three reels
that showed horse, winner and odds. The
first reel to stop, at the left, named the
horse, and if the second reel didn’t pick it
as the winner, you were out. But if it did,
that third reel suddenly got very important.
While most winners were two-for-one,
there were enough higher odds to keep the
players hooked. According to the litera-
ture of the day, JOCKEY CLUB paid out
approximately forty percent, a high return
for its machine class but nowhere near the
97% payouts expected of the slots in
Vegas or Atlantic City in this day and age.

The basic JOCKEY CLUB was
watered down in subsequent models. By
far the most desirable is the gum side
vender model with the horse race reels.
But after that, JOCKEY CLUB became
just another cigarette machine when
cigarettes reels replaced the horse reels.
The example in the photograph is the orig-
inal horse reel model.

There is some mystery as to where the
A.B.C. Coin JOCKEY CLUB came from,
or where it went. In collectors hands it
remains a durable and desirable piece, as
well as an enigma.

122 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Bally
CUB

Produced between 1933 and 1934

machine from the 1890s! A lot of col-
lectors in the early days of collecting

thought it was, and they got confused over
the Art Deco trim, aluminum handle and
CUB name, all decidedly un-Victorian.

It’s asimple game. You put in a coin,
charge the machine by pulling forward on
the handle, turn a selector dial to the num-
ber and color you want to play for, then
pull out the selector knob. That starts the
flat wheel spinning and click-click-click-
ing its way to a stop. If you picked the
number or color, you’re a winner. That’s
just about as old-fashioned as you can get,
and it’s almost incongruous to see the
Bally name on such a simplistic device.
But hold on; that’s typically Bally for the
early days. Ray Moloney of Bally hit the
sales jackpot with his BALLYHOO pin-
ball game, and then tried mightily for year
after year to match its success. It wasn’t
until Bally started making one-ball payout
pinball games around 1935 that they had
another barnburner on their hands.
Between these two successes, Bally
scratched out a living the hard way from
game to game, and in the process turned
out wads of trade stimulators and counter
games that only had a modicum of success
or were absolute flops.

Surprisingly, the CUB was one of the Bally CUB. Rich Penn Collection.
successful games, if only modestly so.
The reason wasn’t Bally or the game. It
was the law. When repeal became the law machines. CUB, incidentally, came with
of the land and beer could be sold over the four different wheels — numbers, fortune
bar once again (not to count the whiskey — symbols, beer or cigarette symbols. Most
that flowed) just about every empty store- | surviving examples are number wheels,
front on a well-travelled street suddenly — with the beer wheel the most sought-after.
became a tavern and the bartop counter
game was just as suddenly in great
demand.

The Bally CUB was just the kind of
game that was popular. And why not? Its
earlier cousins were just as popular in the
pre-World War | saloons. Reporting on
the phenomena, the November 1933 issue
of The Coin Machine Journal, in an article
entitle “Six Months of Beer,” Stated:
“Immediately after beer began to flow a
score or more of counter type beer sales
stimulators appeared and it is estimated
that some 200,000 of these machines were
sold. Such machines as Exhibit Supply’s
BOOSTER, Bally’s BOSCO and CUB,
A.B.T.’s ROLL-ET, and various other
counter machines using dice, roulette and
fruit reel symbols enjoyed a sale that cre-
ated prosperity for their producers.”

200,000 games in six months! That’s
why old tavern locations, or the descen-
dents of saloon and tavern operators, are
such good places to look for old coin

|: this doesn’t look like an old cigar

THE 100 MACHINES

Rockola

123

OFFICIAL SWEEPSTAKES

Rock-Ola OF FICIAL SWEE

ere’s a highly favored race game
Hes stimulator that combines the

action of the race games of the past
with the gum vending, color selector dial
and fact action of the middle thirties.
Rock-Ola started a trend (actually restarted
an old trend) with the OFFICIAL SWEEP-
STAKES, and within the next three or four
years practically every maker of counter
games or even the larger payout slots
made a somewhat similar machine.

Rock-Ola was in much the same spot
that Bally was in the early 1930s. Rock-
Ola started out with the rapid success of
lash-on jackpot fronts, moved into pinball
games, and squeaked out an existence with
a wide variety of these machines spiced
with a series of non-payout trade stimula-
tors. Interestingly Rock-Ola seemed to do
better in trade stimulators than Bally did,
yet example of machines from both firms
seem to be in short collector supply.

The Rock-Ola OFFICIAL SWEEP-
STAKES is one of the better examples of
the genre and sometimes gets confused
with the Balley SPARK PLUG. True,
both are circular race games, but the Bally
machine is far more complex, and an auto-
matic payout to boot. That’s not to say the
Rock-Ola OFFICIAL SWEEPSTAKES (it

Produced between 1933 and

Pa "

~ Ee

was generally just known as the OFFI-
CIAL) isn’t complex. It is, particularly for
a non-payout counter game. Its cleverest
feature is the “moving ball of magic,” or
simply the “magic ball.” While the horses
spin around, the ball rolls around, chang-
ing the odds as the race progresses. A
winner pays out 2-for-1 up to 30-for-1,
depending where the ball stops when the
winner stops. Two exciting play features
are going on at once; Rock-Ola called it
“double-barrelled action.”” The machine
came in both plain and gumball models,
the latter shown here.

Another hot feature is the speed of the
play. A hundred races can be run in an
hour, but you really have to stick to it.
Sixty different odds numbers are on the
track of the “magic ball’ so you just can’t
possibly prejudge the results.

Something else; and that’s content, or
the amount of manufactured goods you get
for your dollar. A small automobile cost
$600 in 1933; virtually the same car you’d
get today for $10,000, or almost twenty
times as much. The Rockola OFFICIAL
cost $19.50 in its plain model and $21.50
with the gumball window and dispenser as
shown when it came out in 1933. Multiply
that times twenty and you get equivalent

PSTAKES. Gene Foster Collection.

or
“

values of $390 and $430, meaning that an
OFFICIAL buyer got an awful lot of
machinery for their money back in ‘33 and
that the appreciation of the piece since just
proves that good antiques run well ahead
of inflation.

124 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Groetchen
POK-O-REEL GUM VENDOR

Produced between 1933 and 1934
ere’s another catch-up piece of yo ges : ae -
He to put trade stimulators and ae
counter games in their rightful
place in this volume as well as correct,
update and enhance the data contained in
the original Trade I] An Illustrated Price
Guide to the 100 Most Collectible Slot
Machines.”

What You’re looking at is the origi-
nal Groetchen POK-O-REEL of 1933 in
its side vender (and notice that the vender
is on the left side, not on the right as is so
common on the larger payout slots) con-
figuration, the latter model being called
the POK-O-REEL GUM VENDOR
(“Vendor”’ with an “O”’). This is the same
machine that is illustrated in the Slots /]
book, and it gives us a chance to straighten
out some screwed up data.

Well, it’s not exactly the same
machine. This is the gum vender model.
But if you compare the front casting of the
cabinet you’ll see that both of these
machines are from the same molds. The
name POK-O-REEL is in an Art Deco- ol ae
type panel, with other Art Deco treatments ’ , ~ Sere Pal
on the sides and bottom of the front 7 : Se
around the reward card. Now, if you look
at the top of the machine picured here,
you'll see other neat casting treatments
showing the spot symbols of Club, Dia-
mond, Spade and Heart suits. In all this is
a very Classy model of the POK-O-REEL.

It’s this cabinet trim that points up the
screwed up data in that first slot volume.
In the original edition of that first book the [RRRsRRRRNI eye sine amma neneennnnn aes
copy is correct, but the picture is wrong. Groetchen POK-O-REEL GUM VENDOR.
The copy describes the Groetchen POK-O-

REEL TRIPLEX of the 1934-1936 period,

but shows the POK-O-REEL of 1933- _ the restoration can be right on target in
1934. The way to tell them apart is easy; —_ terms of originality such as this one the
they have entirely different cabinets. — results speak for themselves.

Where this model has the POK-O-REEL

name in its cabinet, the POK-O-REEL

TRIPLEX has it cast as a separate piece,

mounted by two screws as a marquee on

top of the machine. We’ll straighten this

whole thing out in future volumes in this

trade stimulator series when we show the

POK-O-REEL TRIPLEX in all its person-

al glory.

Getting back to the machine at hand,
it’s a beauty. This machine and the Daval
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE set the future
standard of premier counter games, mak-
ing them larger and better decorated than
they had been in the past. The example
shown here is a fully restored model in the
Bill Whelan collection, and carries Whe-
lan’s repro reel strips making it look brand
new, or even better than new. Many col-
lectors prefer not to restore their machines,
but if a machine is short of hopeless and

my tS

t ti
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ge hei * ke
“i a et - © eat
% Sty a ae

ra be lox eS
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See eh

Bill Whelan Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES

Kenney and Sons
MAGIC CLOCK

Produced between 1933 and 1935

Keeney And Sons MAGIC CLOCK. Willard E. Howard Collection.

elcome to a trash classic! A few
years ago people could hardly
give these things away. Now, at

least, they have a modicum of market
value. And in the future? Who can tell.
It’s a hellava game, and if you’d like to
have one of these crazy things around the
house or in the den, go out and get one
now before everyone catches on to the
trick of the machine.

Here’s the trick! It has fruit symbols!
That might not seem like much to you
today, but believe me, in the long run any-
thing with fruit symbols from the thirties
or earlier will be a prime piece in the years
ahead. There’s something about Lemons
and Cherries and Bell-Fruit-Gum (on this
machine the black bar symbol is called
MAGIC CLOCK; machine makers often
changed the bar symbol to reflect their

own name or play features while leaving
the other fruit symbols intact) symbols that
charm the hell out of people, particularly
older ones who get all excited and happy
when they see them and often say, “Hey, I
remember those!” So if you ever see a
machine — any machine — that has fruit
symbols and the price is really right, you’d
be an idiot to pass it.

So what in the world is the Keeney
MAGIC CLOCK? Well, it has an interest-
ing background. Chicagoan Jack Keeney,
later famous as a producer of Console Bell
and electronic Upright payout and free
play automatic slots through his J.H.
Keeney and Company, Not Inc., got into
the coin machine manufacturing business
by the back door. Way back before World
War 1 his father was an operator, and little
Jack and his brother Bill were route col-

lectors. Then, in the twenties, they all had
a direct mail order slot distributor business
as Keeney and Sons on the south side of
Chicago. Young Jack (getting older, not
younger) was dying to get in the slot and
trade stimulator business as a manufactur-
er. So they made jackpot fronts and
“jacks” machines. But Keeney had his eye
on bigger game and sought ideas from out-
side inventors.

His first big shot was a race game
trade stimulator called DERBY VENDER,
coming out in April 1933. Then, in
August, came the Keeney MAGIC
CLOCK. Drop in a coin, push the lever,
and the hour, minute and second hands
spin to a 1-2-3 stop, just like a 3-reel slot,
in a game principle that worked just like
the old Maley ECLIPSE clockwork trade
machine of 1894 and the British
BRYAN’s CLOCK payout machines of a
later generation. Counter payouts are
made according to the three symbols
pointed out by the hands. When the
machine isn’t being played it looks like a
clock. Keeney sold wads of these things
for two years as Keeney and Sons Incorpo-
rated, but then the company went bust.
Keeney came back with a new firm, but
the MAGIC CLOCK didn’t.

126

here are two ways to confirm the

existence of a coin machine. First,

and most common, is the discovery
of such a machine, the testimony of the
thing. Second, most uncommon, is to find
it on paper, an old ad, photograph, catalog
sheet or something. There’s a third way,
but it’s very unreliable. That’s if someone
tells you about a machine. The reason
that’s so unreliable is that most people
don’t know what the hell they’re talking
about.

That leaves one and two to make a
fact. Finding one and/or seeing a picture
of one. Put them all together and you’ve
got reality. Unless you don’t believe what
you find and don’t accept a picture at face
value.

That, my friends, is the story of FLY-
ING HEELS. To this day, some of the
people that have found the few remaining
examples of these machines hardly accept
the fact that they existed and, almost to a
person, most everyone who has seen the
catalog picture or ad for FLYING HEELS
has said “That can’t be!” The odd part
about all this is that the more you know
about antique coin machines, the less
accepting you are liable to be about FLY-
ING HEELS. That means that the collec-
tors at the upper end of the knowledge
scale are the very ones who seem to be
saying ““What you see ain’t what you get.”

It all boils down to the simple fact
that those in the so-called know can’t
believe that any idiot in the middle 1930s
could possibly make a 7-way play counter
color wheel machine with a Schultze or
Schall type handle (you’ll have to read
some of the /00 Collectible Slot Machines
books to know what that means) and hope
to make a buck at it.

Logic is on their side. The idiot was a
man named Harvey J. Stock, a wholesale
liquor dealer in Milwaukee; the company
was J.H. Stock Company, lasting less than
a year as a coin machine maker in 1934
and 1935; and Harvey lost his butt on the
deal. What could be more confusing than
a 1¢-5¢-10¢-25¢ counter game that could
be played by seven people at once and had
seven jackpots, with each one having dif-
ferent colored horses. The late collector
Elmer Cummings, who found two of these
things in his day, summed it up beautifully
when he said, “I don’t know why anybody
would want to play it as it has so many
options it’s hard to win at all. If just takes
the money in and doesn’t give much out!”
With 19 color odds stops for each colored
horse, that meant a mind boggling 133
stops on the wheel, meaning that any win
was a long shot. A cigarette model was

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Stock
FLYING HEELS

Produced between 1934 and 1935

also produced with the same long odds.
The clean shaven, wide hat brimmed, long
watch chained and beer drinking tavern
customers of 1934 and 1935 apparently
felt the same way. FLYING HEELS was
hardly a success, and that makes them as
rare as all billydoo today.

Pe. a
TS eh og. eG

~ Stock FLYING HEELS. Gary Sturtridge Collect

Pes
we

ion.

Stephens PENNY DRAW.

ystery solved! But what excite-
Me there was on the way. The

Stephens PENNY DRAW is a
classic example of the adage that knowl-
edge is power, and goes a long way toward
proving that lack of knowledge can be
costly.

What you’re looking at is a six coin
counter draw poker machine. It’s clever
all right. You play a coin at the far right
coin slot, push the handle down, and the
five reels spin, stopping on card spots. If
you want to draw — you’ve got one chance
at each card spot — you add a coin in the
slot above the spot you want to replace
and push the handle again. If you are so
inclined, you could replace all five, mean-
ing five more coins, but more than likely
you’ ll only shoot for two or three, or go all
out for a whole new hand for one coin
only.

So the machine is obviously mechani-
cally clever, well made, uniquely trimmed,

Tony Goodstone Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES

Stephens
PENNY DRAW

Produced between 1934 and 1939

\
\
\

and in a fairly rought, “hammered” cast
aluminum cabinet. Other than that, it’s
date, origin and maker were completely
unknown when the first one showed up in
late 1977.

In spite of the fact that there were no
markings at all on the machine, the Cali-
fornia collector that found it said, “I think
it’s a Fey!” The reasons for the assump-
tion are obvious. That rough cabinet and
crude star, the cleverness of the game and
the unique multi-coin play action. Also,
the fact that Fey machines are literally
unlisted — there’s no Fey advertising or
complete catalogs to refer to, and Fey
made a lot of machines between 1895 and
1941 — and that “new ones” continually
pop up means that it is not entirely unrea-
sonable to find a Fey that hasn’t been
found before. So both the finder and a
potential buyer turned to the author for
identification of the machine.

In case you don’t know it, that’s a

127

tough spot to be in, folks. No one knows
everything, and unless there’s some hard
data somewhere (such as a name, date,
patent number or anything on the machine,
or its shape and details are already known
to me through old ads, an actual machine
I’ve already seen, or “paper’) I’m just as
dumb as the next guy. To make it tougher,
there were a lot of small producers in the
twenties, thirties, forties and fifties who
never advertised at all and are really tough
to pin down. So my first hunch was that it
wasn’t a Fey (the reels looked too neat)
and it was made by an off-brand maker
between 1928 and 1939 (due to the heavy
cast aluminum cabinet and “modern” look-
ing handle) with dating more likely at the
upper end (because of the neatness of the
reels). Then things broke fast. Another
collector in Missouri had one, and I dis-
covered that the reels on both machines
were identical to those on the Sanders
JOKER WILD of 1939. At first I though
it might be a Sanders machine, but the
rough unpainted cabinet voted against that
(Sanders machines tend to be neat and col-
orful). I concluded it was an off-brand,
non-advertising maker between 1935 and
1940 and that the machine name was FIVE
CARD DRAW or something similar.

Then a major “old operator” find of
paper was made. As I rifled through the
old papers, ads and spec sheets, the game
jumped out. It is PENNY DRAW by A.J.
Stevens and Company of Kansas City,
Missouri, circa 1934, and in its original
has an award card in a frame holder on top
of the machine behind the coin slots.
Mystery solved!

128

olly, this thing looks familiar.
(57 are the very words that

flashed through my mind when I
first saw this machine in Michigan in the
summer of 1978. It was less than two
weeks after I had just written the copy for
the Groetchen SOLITAIRE as it appears
in the first trade stimulator volume. And
here I was looking at the same machine, or
almost the same machine, only it had a dif-
ferent name.

Just when you think that everything
has come to an end and all the machines
that are ever going to be found have been
found, a find like this comes along. An
antique dealer had it, and it had just come
out of the basement of an old store build-
ing in a small central Michigan town.
Two other coin machine collectors had
seen it in the previous two weeks and
passed it, saying, “I never heard of it, and
it doesn’t make payout, the back is locked,
and the key is missing, so no thanks.” So I
strolled into the shop on my annual shop-
checking route and shopkeeper Ben says,
“TI don’t have much, maybe one thing, but
nobody seems interested. Are you?” One
look at GOLD RUSH and a deal was
struck.

Compare GOLD RUSH to the
Groetchen SOLITAIRE in the first trade
stimulator volume and you’ll flip. They
are damn near the same thing, except
GOLD RUSH has gum, different Art Deco
trim, three vertical rows of fruit symbols
rather than a single disc of numbers, and a
vertical coin slot rather than a horizontal
one. After that they seem to be ditto
copies of each other. Coin machine
antique dealer Ira Warren of New
Rochelle, New York, has a good rule. As
Ira tells it: “I’ve seen a lot of machines in
my day. I won’t say I’ve seen them all,
but I’ve seen enough to know that when I
see a machine I’ve never seen before I
give whoever has it their price because I
figure it’s got to be rare.”

So, following the Ira Warren rule, I
bought GOLD RUSH, figuring it might be
the first and only one to show up so far.
And I was damn near right. With some
trading around, it ended up in the hands of
California collector Bill Whelan, who got
first crack at its treasures. According to
Bill, “When I opened the back, a few
1930s and 1940s pennies and a buffalo
nickel dropped out. There were also two
extra reels for the upper display, a 1-7/16”
diameter wooden spool with eight stops.
Below that is a large 64 stop reel with two
rows of symbols. There are also five
removable tabs with two symbols each
that you can take off to change the odds,

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Groetchen
GOLD RUSH

Produced between 1934 and 1935

Groetchen GOLD RUSH. Bill Whelan Collection.

just one of several ways to change the
odds on this machine.”

So far no more than 3 or 4 more fruit
symbol GOLD RUSH machines have
shown up, unless you have one. One of
these is also called GOLD RUSH but —
get this — the symbols are different!

THE 100 MACHINES

Jennings

129

LITTLE MERCHANT

Produced between 1934 and 1937

Jennings LITTLE MERCHANT. Bill Whelan Collection.

lecting coin machines, or more specifi-

cally trade stimulators, for five or six
years or more knows about the Jennings
LITTLE MERCHANT. No big deal they
said for years.

By way of background, with all sorts
of cat-and-dog makers making a tidy for-
tune on trade stimulators and counter
games in the early 1930s, some of the big-
ger slot machine makers — that’s Mills,
Caille, Jennings, Watling, Pace and Bally

J: about anyone who has been col-

— decided they should cut themselves a
piece of the pie. Pace was the first and the
smartest. Pace was pumping out counter
games, both targets and Baby Bells, before
the end of the twenties. So was Caille
Bros., only they never made much of an
impact on the genre in the late twenties or
early thirties. Watling figured it was kid
stuff, and while Watling made a counter
game or two or three, they never made a
commitment to the field. Bally jumped in
early, in the early thirties, but never

became a biggie in the business.

That left Mills and Jennings. Both
had made the TARGET and versions of
the PURITAN BELL or PURITAN GIRL
in the late twenties, and both decided to
jump into the counter game game in the
middle thirties with well-engineered, stur-
dier and ofter cleverer counter games of
their own design than the ones being made
by the smaller firms. One can only sur-
mise that the games made by Groetchen,
Daval, Garden City, Pierce and even Pace
and Bally, were beginning to get under
their skin. So Mills and Jennings jumped
in, if only to fill out their already enor-
mous lines to keep their loyal customers
happy and out of the clutches of the
upstart producers.

The Jennings answer was a uniquely
Jennings simple and super-engineered
Baby Bell mechanism that they spun out
into half a dozen counter games in the
middle thirties. The line leader was LIT-
TLE MERCHANT, which came in either
number (a la PURITAN) reels or cigarette
(a la every other counter game format in
the country) reels, and in fruit reels as
THE REBATER. It was well known in
its day, and in later years when collectors
started reading all the old trade publica-
tions and found reams of advertising and
literature. In short, the Jennings LITTLE
MERCHANT became a “common
machine” because everyone in the know
knew about it. In the early seventies
Chicago machine dealer and slot literature
super-salesman Russel Riberto (the first
guy most coin machine enthusiasts started
with because he was the most visible back
when the laws were tough) had one up for
$85 and he couldn’t move it. Finally
someone bought it. A September 1973 ad
in The Antique Trader also had one for
$135 and another one showed up at an
auction a few years later and went for
peanuts.

Here’s the rub. While everybody
seemed to “know” the machine, hardly
anyone had ever seen one. Less than a
dozen are positively known to be in collec-
tions, and the LITTLE MERCHANT and
its THE REBATER brother just might turn
out to be some of the rarest counter games
of all. You should hear Russell on the
subject. He’s ready to shoot himself!

130

hen one of the super-sophisticat-
ed, well-positioned, highly suc-
cessful and better known slot

machine collectors read the first volume of
An Illustrated Price Guide to the 100 Most
Collectible Trade Stimulators in an
overnight session at an auction at Disney-
land in November 1978 where the book
was first introduced, he buttonholed the
author the next day and said, “It’s interest-
ing, but it’ll never sell because there’s too
much of this stuff in it.”

To clarify his definition of “this stuff’
as he talked, he thumbed through the book
and pointed out the sameness of the
BABY VENDER, DANDY VENDER,
DAVAL GUM VENDOR, THE NEW
DEAL, HIT ME, PILGRIM, THE CAR-
DINAL, CENT-A-PACK and others.

Don’t put all of the counter game col-
lectors down (name supplied on request)
just because you don’t dig the kick of
slight variations from game to game, and
let me remind you (same name, still on
request) that the “sameness” of a Mills,
Jennings, Caille, Watling or Pace payout
slot is what makes the differences from
One manufacturer to any other so darn
interesting to you.

Counter games have other charms.
First of all, they are cheaper than the big-
ger slots, which means that a collector can
still get started for a couple of hundred
bucks and doesn’t have to go to his or her
spouse or friend and ask for clearance to
spend a couple of thousand bucks just to
have a coin machine in the house. Sec-
ondly, and I can’t prove this yet, they just
might be rarer than the payouts. Trade
stimulators and counter games so often
seem to be stepchi!:jicn to a larger slot
collection, and trom what I’ve seen, most
collectors have two or three automatic
payout or consoles for every smaller
counter game they have on a shelf. Sure,
there are counter game collectors exclu-
sively, but their holdings can’t come near
the number of the large slot collections in
the country. Wouldn’t it be interesting if
there really are far more payouts than trade
machines, particularly since the trade stim-
ulators sell or trade for one-fifth to one-
tenth of the cost of the larger machines.
As the years roll by, the counter game
buffs just might be sitting on the most
valuable collections of all.

Case in point: The Daval WIN-A-
SMOKE is a “plain vanilla’ machine and
looks like a lot of other counter games of
the middle thirties. But ... WIN-A-
SMOKE is a rarity. It’s funny that it
should be, but it is. It’s exactly the same
machine as the Daval CENTASMOKE or

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Daval

WIN-A-SMOKE

Produced between 1935 and 1936

Daval WIN-A-SMOKE. Bill Whelan Collection.

the SPIN-A-PACK. They all have identi-
cal 24 symbol, 12 stop cigarette reels and
cabinets. Only the marquees are different.
And so is the return. The Daval WIN-A-
SMOKE only pays one pack, max, for
any and all combinations. If we can keep
falsified reproduction marquees out of the
mainstream of counter game collecting,
the far term tally of what really does and
does not exist probably will surprise us all.

Se ik. A shee

arlier we said that when the bigger
He: makers decide to fill out their

line for their customers, and thereby
go into the counter game business, both
Mills and Jennings came up with their own
counter game lines.

You saw the Jennings approach with
the LITTLE MERCHANT; now here’s the
Mills. And it’s marvelous. Actually, it’s
as if the Lincoln suddenly decided to
become a compact car and go for 48 mpg
in order to level out the line, and in so
doing produced a small car that met the
specs but cost ten times as much as any-
thing comparable on the market.

That’s exactly what Mills did with the
BLACKJACK. Sure, it’s a counter game,
and sure it’s great, and sure it’s small.
But, Mills had to get so much money for
this thing back in 1935 only a Chrysler
(Big in those days!), LaSalle or Cadillac
(The French inspired Lincoln hadn’t made
it to the market yet) owner had the guts to

Mills BLACKJACK. Bill Whelan Collectio

THE 100 MACHINES

Mills
BLACKJACK

Produced between 1935 and 1938

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plunk down the cost and put this game
next to a cash register. That’s not to say it
wasn’t a success. It was, and because of
two reasons. The biggest was the Mills
name. If it was a Mills, it had to be good,
or they could turn it back in for their
money. But more important, it was a class
counter game, and as tight as business was
(the depression didn’t really end until
World War 2 came along) some people
were still willing to spend top dollar to get
a top return.

The Mills Novelty Company went for
that trade in the first place. When
BLACKJACK was introduced in 1935, the
advertising clearly positioned the product
in the marketplace. A splashy, introducto-
ry spread ad said, “There has been a large
number of small type trade stimulators
introduced during the period of the last
five years. But few of these seem to have
any of the long-run qualities which we
have always endeavored to build into our

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equipment.”

Mills called BLACKJACK and their
other counter games a “Mills long run
machine,” adding, “Another long run
counter machine. A product of Mills Nov-
elty Co. Look for this tag on every
machine you buy.”

The Mills BLACKJACK is clever,
and was widely copied, only not as lucra-
tively. On the Mills machine it costs the
player a penny for every card, the lower
symbol row. The dealer has to hit if the
show is less than 17, and must stand if it is
17 or better. The player can hit repeated-
ly, but it costs another penny for each
card. When the player has a hand, the
dealer button is pushed and the two hands
are exposed. All that, plus a ball of gum.
The basic cabinet became a Mills counter
game standard. You can see its lines in
the Mills COUNTER KING in Trade /.

132

the 10 x 14 x 5 flat box counter games.

Dice, spinner, wheels or whatever, they
all looked a lot alike and played a lot alike.
But, miraculously, there were all different
in One way or another, if only in a small
detail. One wonders what would have
happened if World War 2 hadn’t come
along and cut off the creative flow of
counter games, never really to return again
in full flower. There might have been tens
or hundreds more of these games in the
same boxes with only the names changed.
As it is, their flowering between 1934 and
1941 was effusive and confusing enough,
and to this day only a true counter game
devotee can tell them apart in a flash.

That’s the word: Flash! These games
were certainly flashy because they had an
enormous expanse of billboard space that
was used to full advantage. Where most
counter games only had reward card and
marquee space for graphics, the flat box
games had 140 square inches of display
space less a hole or holes for the play fea-
tures and a coin window. That generally
took less than a third of the total display
space leaving a hundred square inches or
more for multi-color printing and silk
screened graphics. That alone created the
diversity. All the game maker had to do
was print up a new game panel with a dif-
ferent machine name and reward schedule
and just like that there was a new game on
the market.

The Chicago-based Exhibit Supply
Company started the trend with its
SWEET SALLY game, and followed up
with reams of others. In the long run,
Exhibit made more of the flat box games
than anyone else, even after the firm
briefly tried its luck with the automatic
payout floor model console slots. Lucky
for Exhibit. The counter games paid the
rent while the consoles got creamed by
Evans and Keeney.

One of the Popular models was the
Exhibit HORSE SHOES, shown in the
Trade | trade stimulator book. You
picked a digit from one to six on a dial,
spun the dice, and hoped your number
came up on the single numbered die, with
the other two telling win, place or show
and the payout odds. GET-A-PACK is the
same game (compare their pictures) only
there’s no selector dial and only two dies,
both numbered. Get a total of 7 and you
get one pack, two packs for 11. So all
Exhibit had to do was not mount the selec-
tor dial, print a new color name panel and
throw in two different dice, and, quick as a
wink, a new game.

[« the middle thirties and here come

Exhibit
GET-A-PACK

Produced between 1935 and 1937

Exhibit GET-A-PACK.

Bill Whelan Collection.

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humb back three pages to the Daval
"| (in-a‘smoxe and you’ll be

amazed. Here’s the same machine,
only now it’s called CENTASMOKE,
with an entirely different marquee, or
nameplate, on top. That’s okay; it could
just as easily have been the SPIN-A-
PACK as they’re all alike except for their
name.

Why the different names for the same
machines? Marketing, that’s why. All of
the major Baby Bell makers -— that’s
Daval, Groetchen, Buckley and Sanders —
made a wide variety of the same games
under different names. It kept their pro-
duction costs down and gave them promo-
tional machines they could sell off on a

Daval CENTASMOKE. Bill Whelan Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES

Daval
CENTASMOKE

Produced between 1936 and 1939

exclusive basis. In many cases they had a
customer for a separate name machine,
with that customer handling exclusive dis-
tribution under their own company name
with the manufacturer’s name blotted out,
or perhaps never applied. That’s called
“private label” production, and gives the
buyer a machine exclusively theirs in spite
of the fact the game is the same. You can
see it at work today. Compare a Mont-
gomery Ward coffee maker to a Proctor-
Silex, or a Sears Kenmore washer to a
Whirlpool and you’re looking at the same
machines under private and original labels.

CENTASMOKE came out in January
1936 and in penny play only, getting away
from the four coin 1¢-5¢-10¢-25¢ format

133

so popular for many of these machines,
except a last-coin-played window on the
side permitted dime play in the penny
chute. Daval called the game “The great-
est and steadiest money-maker in coin
machine history” at the time of introduc-
tion, obviously referring to the games that
came before.

Speaking of great expectations, Daval
said that ““At each check-up you will need
a large sock to carry away the huge
amount of loose pennies CENTASMOKE
will gather. Tremendous odds of from | to
10 packages of cigarettes for a penny is
what gets them!” Just how much money
were they talking about? Daval tells it, “A
route of fifty CENTASMOKES properly
placed will give you a larger income than
many times as much money invested in
any other kind of business.” At $12.50 a
machine that suggest a 1936 investment of
$625 for a steady income. That would
only buy about two of these machines
today.

Collector Bill Whelan, who has both
the WIN-A-SMOKE and the CEN-
TASMOKE in his collection, notes that
the comment in the Trade | trade stimula-
tor book stating that the WIN-A-PACK
and SPIN-A-PACK have 10 stop reels is
incorrect. According to Bill, all of these
machines have 12 stop, 24 symbol reels.
Maybe so, but the original SPIN-A-PACK
advertising says it has 10 stops. Also, the
introductory advertising for CEN-
TASMOKE offered it in three models:
Double-Door Register Model, Coin
Divider Model and the Automatic Coin
Divider With Two Separate Cash Boxes
Model. Look alike as they all may be,
there’s a lot of variety in these machines,
outside and in.

134

here must have been an enormous
exchange of ideas and actual hard-
ware between makers that we don’t
know much about, and might never learn.
For instance, the National SMOKES of
1936 is about the same size and has a sim-
ilar slant front to a number of other
counter games of the period. There just
might have been a connection. But what?

It’s a thin connection at best, and real-
ly only a hunch because in all other char-
acteristics these games are quite different
(although the marquee looks Groetchen).
Take the A.B.C. JOCKEY CLUB some
pages back as an example. While it may
superficially look like the Natonal
SMOKES, there are major differences,
plus the fact that the machines are sepa-
rated by three years in time and a lot of
geography to boot. A.B.C. was in Chica-
go, and the National Coin Machine
Exchange was in Toledo. That’s no big
deal because National Coin’s Charlie
Jameson really got around. I know
because the local newspaper publisher in
Shelby, Michigan, my plumber, carpenter,
the lady that runs the dry goods store, and
the people who rent cottages and sell gas
across the way from my cottage on Stony
Lake all knew Jameson very well. Char-
lie, they say, knew Toledo, Detroit and
Chicago like an inside pocket. So the
Chicago-Toledo connection is highly pos-
sible. And the three year difference is no
magic number either. Fact is, the
improvements in SMOKES over JOCKEY
CLUB and any number of other Chicago
machines that seem to stand out would just
about have taken the three years. That’s
the A.B.T. coin slide in place of a slot and
side handle, the front locking operators
cash box and the addition of a big ball
gum display. It could be a case of techno-
logical transfer.

The big mitigating factor against a
technological transfer isn’t what your eye-
sight seems to suggest at all; it’s what
National Coin had to say about SMOKES
when it came out. The first advertising in
January 1936 called it “The machine you
have been waiting for (every maker
always said that!) with a different style
mechanism, thoroughly tested and guaran-
teed (now that’s something most makers
didn’t say). The introductory press sto-
ries went further, adding that the “National
Coin Machine Exchange SMOKES (is)
entirely new in design and mechanism ...
The firm’s mechanical department has
developed a method for spinning three
reels ... entirely different from the ones
usually used in three-reel counter games.
The mechanism of SMOKES is operated

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

National

SMOKES

Produced between 1936

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with the A.B.T. coin chuts.”’

Maybe they meant that the addition of
the A.B.T. coin slide made the mechanism
different or that the coin divider feature of
SMOKES made it different yet both of
these ideas had been tried before by at
least 2 or 3 manufacturers. The fact of the
matter is that counter games evolved and
the National SMOKES was at the active
end of the process when it came out in
1936.

and 1937

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National SMOKES. Dick Bueschel Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES

Great States

135

SANDY’S HORSES

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Great States SANDY’S HORSES. Carole Whelan Collection.

ansas City? Who ever heard of
Kei machine makers in Kansas

City? That’s the joy of being a
trade stimulator collector, or one of the
joys anyway. You get so you know things
other people don’t know, and they’ re inter-
esting things to know. Sometimes they
come in handy, too. When the author
went to testify before the Kansas State
Legislature hearings on the advisability of
permitting the collectibility of antique coin
machines early in 1979, both the House
and Senate committees had a reluctance to
vote for a bill that made it possible to col-
lect old slots that were only made in

Chicago (1.e., Mills, Jennings, Watling,
Pace, et al). When it was pointed out that
Kansas City (albeit Missouri) had machine
makers too, and that the old slots hidden
away in Dodge City, as well as the few
surviving locally made machines left in
the state, would probably be sold out of
state for safety, the attitude of the hearings
changed. Kansas passed its collectibility
law, and I’m just sure that the story of the
Stephens MAGIC BEER BARREL in the
first trade stimulator volume had a lot to
do with it.

But A.J. Stephens & Company wasn’t
the only Kansas City, Missouri maker of

Produced between 1936 and 1940

coin machines. There was another one,
and even a third, fourth and fifth. Abe E.
Sandhaus, a former operator who saw the
fantastic potential in coin machines once
prohibition was repealed and people would
buy beer in taverns again, set up his Great
States Manufacturing Company in Kansas
City in 1931 and proceeded to give it a
hell of a run until just before World War 2.
Sandhaus ran Great States until the end of
1936, and then changed the name of his
company to the Star Sales Company, and
then to the Star Manufacturing and Sales
Company. Finally, by 1940, he had settled
back to an outfit called the National Sales
and Distributing Company whereby he
handled the machines of other makers and
ran enough counter game and vending
machine routes to pay for an even better
than comfortable standard of living.

On the way from here to there, Sand-
haus made a rack of clever and successful
trade stimulators and counter games that
rivalled anything made by Groetchen,
Daval, A.B.T. or anyone else in Chicago
or elsewhere. SANDY’S HORSES is a
classic example. Produced in competition
with the race games made by others, and
specifically the A.B.T. HALF MILE and
the Daval DERBY, the Great States
SANDY’S HORSES is a prettier, better
made game. It was named after Sandhaus
— “Sandy” was his nickname — and offers
six-coin play. Play a coin or coins on your
favorite horses or colors, push the handle
and watch ‘em spin. The example in the
photograph is serial number 656, dated
June 24, 1936.

136

ake one good machine and

you've got the potential to make

a bunch more. They all did it!
Once the cabinet molds were set and the
ree! mechanisms worked out, it didn’t take
much to change the cabinet detail, the reel
windows or even the number of reels. The
basic cabinet format became the generic,
and everything else was hung on it or in it,
from a rivet-on cast nameplate to the reels
and award graphics.

Compare the Garden City TURF on
this page to the Garden City BAR BOY in
the first volume of /llustrated Guide to
100 Collectible Trade Stimulators and
you'll get the picture instantly. Both have
four reels, but the TURF reel windows are
a lot bigger. What has happened is that
the basic Garden City cabinet has been
altered to extend the TURF reel windows
into the area used for the “How to Play”
instruction of the BAR BOY. Both
machines have the same front lock, gum-
ball window and dispenser. But where
BAR BOY has bartended graphics, TURF
Carries its instructions and horse race
graphics in the lower panel.

TURF is clever. The first two reels
have numbers. Match them up, for
instance a | and a 1, or a 5 and a 5, and
you’re winning. But you don’t know how
much yet. Then the third reel snaps to a
stop and indicates the odds for win, place
or show. At that point you know what
you'll win if you get any of the three. It’s
the fourth reel that wraps it up. It snaps to
a stop to indicate win, place or show, with
whatever comes up being paid off over the
counter by the merchant. So even if you
match the numbers on the first two reels
you can win big or scrimp out with a dinky
payoff. Naturally that fourth reel is loaded
with “Show” symbols, and almost as many
“Place” settings. Getting “Win” on the
fourth reel, or big “Win” odds on the third,
are tough.

This machine isn’t rare, but it isn’t
common, either. The ones that show up
have come out of the woodwork all over
the country, so the spread is national. For
example, TURF machines have shown up
in Texas, Saratoga, New York, Chicago,
Wisconsin, in Colorado and a lot of other
places. Up until recently, the Garden City
“smooth cabinet” machines have been
regarded as slightly trashy, but their opera-
tion ease and neat characteristics have
started to boost the standing of these
machines. They are a class apart when
compared to the other multi-reel counter
games as they have a distinctive look all
their own. Mechanically they are great.
Garden City called each of these machines

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Garden City
TURF

Produced between 1936 and 1940

Garden City TURF. Dick Ferrigan Collection.

“A Long-Life machine built for Long-Life
service and profits.” They couldn’t possi-
bly have known how long the life would
actually be. Over fifty years have gone by
since these games were made, and a lot of
them are still going strong, if not in stores,
at least for collectors.

THE 100 MACHINES

Garden City

137

GEM THREE OF A KIND

Produced between 1936 and 1940

Garden City GEM THREE OF A KIND. Roy Arrington Auction, 1 979.

ere it is again, the basic Garden
Hes cabinet in another game. This
time it’s the generic cabinet with
which the games all started, with an enor-
mous visible gumball reservoir behind the
large window or cut-out panel used on
other models for instructions and below
the small gumball loading door with its
lock.
THREE OF A KIND is the later
model of the original Garden City GEM,
the first of the “smooth cabinet” line.

While similar in outside cabinets, these
games substituted pushpin riveted name-
plates so the same cabinets could be used
for all sorts of things. On the original
GEM three of the same cigarette symbols
would lead to a payout of 1, 2, 5, or 10
packs, depending on the brand shown on
the reels. The GEM THREE OF A KIND
boosts that payout a great deal with payout
of from 3 to 20 packs. The difference is
the coinage. GEM plays for a penny while
the GEM THREE OF A KIND plays for a

nickel. Prorated the original GEM paid
off better, for at 15¢ a pack (imagine that!)
you could get $1.50 in value for penny
play at the top end on the GEM and $3.00
in value for a nickel at the top end of the
GEM THREE OF A KIND. In simpler
terms, that’s 150 times the return on the
GEM and only 60 times the return on the
GEM THREE OF A KIND.

There’s another form of return that
interests trade stimulator collectors; that’s
the value of their machines. There’s
enough data on the sell and buy prices of
the GEM and GEM THREE OF A KIND
machines over the past dozen years to
show you just what has happened to trade
machines. When it came out in 1936, the
GEM sold for $12.95. The first antique
offering that I’m aware of was an ad in
The Antique Trader in January 1968 when
a Long Island dealer was offering a GEM
for $45. By 1971 Russell Riberto of
Chicago was selling one for $75. They
were being knocked off at auctions for
about $125, and by the end of 1977 one
California antique shop had one up to
$150, only it didn’t sell. By the end of
1978, the same machine in the same shop
was listed at $300, and every collector
who saw it passed it by because it was
“too high.’ A more reasonable and realis-
tic price was carried in an ad by an antique
dealer in Pittsburgh in The Antique Trader
in May 1979 with the price quoted at
$225. It sold at that price.

As of late 1979, pricing authority
Larry Lubliner puts these Garden City
machines at $175 at the upper end, the
same as they were a year or so earlier.
When asked why, Larry said, “This con-
stant up and up pricing of counter games
has just gotten out of hand, and if you fol-
low the auctions you’ll see it just isn’t
realistic. Maybe they’ll increase in value
later, but for now I’d like to show these
things where they really belong, and that’s
$175 retail for a mint or restored condition
model right now, and a lot less if there’s
anything wrong with it. And that’s retail;
wholesale is one-third less or even half of
retail.” By 1991, with the new pricing,
their value had more than doubled.

138

rosit! —The music of that marvelous
Pre: rang throughout the land for

the first time in a generation when
“Repeal” was finally law and prohibition
was over. That was in 1933, and within a
few years the friendly neighborhood tav-
ern had proliferated to the point that it out-
numbered food stores, dry cleaners, chop
suey joints and drugstores by megabunch-
es. Every tavern had its “regulars” and
every block zoned for business had its tav-
ern or two, except in those towns that still
stayed dry.

What a market! What a bash! Sure,
you could buy beer by the bottle (the beer
can and the six-pack were yet to be invent-
ed) but it was at the local tavern that the
brew really flowed. So did the pennies,
nickels, dimes and quarters. It was on
these four American coins that fortunes
were built, operators got rich, and trade
stimulator makers depended. The old
cigar machines played on a penny or a
nickel, but it wasn’t until the trade stimu-
lator came along, and repeal was in the
wind, that the four-way-play machines
came into vogue. The same slot, modified
gooseneck or coin slide was big enough to
handle any one of the four coins (the dime
being the smallest, the quarter the largest)
and as far as the machine knew, there was
no difference. The difference came at
payoff time, in case a winner was hit,
because the nickel generally paid five
times the penny, the dime ten times the
penny and the quarter twenty-five times
the return value of a penny. The mecha-
nism for accomplishing this was the view-
ing window. Ostensibly placed on the top,
front or side of the machine to prevent
slugging (i.e., the merchant can see what is
being played, be it slug or coin, and pro-
vided he or she looks) the window really
revealed the rate of pay.

The viewing window is one of the
most noticeable features of the A.B.T. flat
box counter game PROSIT; you can see it
just ahead of the coin slide. For all of its
beer-related graphics, PROSIT is pretty
standard stuff. Three discs with an array
of five different kinds of beer glasses,
steins, pilsener glasses, etc. There were
three payouts of one beer, one of three
beers and one of four beers. But you’ve
got to remember, beer was cheap back in
‘36, and when it came out of a bung as
draft beer, it was cheaper than sin at
wholesale. So PROSIT fought the trend
and didn’t play as a four-way-play
machine like the others. As A.B.T. put it
in their promotional literature, “You put
money in the bank when you put PROSIT
on the bar. Made especially for taverns, it

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

A.B.T.
PROSIT

Produced between 1936 and 1938

A.B.T. PROSIT. Bill Whelan Collection.

directs a stream of nickels into your till.”
At five cents a play even a four beer win-
ner paid off even-steven for the tavern
owner figuring the cost of the beer at
wholesale. Anything less, such as a one or

three beer winner, or a loser — as most
plays were — was practically pure profit.
So here’s a toast to PROSIT, a game that
really creamed the customers.

THE 100 MACHINES

Groetchen
ROYAL FLUSH

Produced between 1937 and 1942

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Groeichen ROYAL

ack in the Gay Nineties and into the
B early 1900s trade stimulators tended

to be fairly big. Then in the late
twenties and early thirties, with the intro-
duction of the all-aluminum cabinet Baby
Bell and Puritan-type three-reel counter
games, they got small. But as the thirties
inched along past their middle and greater
sophistication entered the realm of the
non-automatic payout counter game they
Started getting bigger again. More features
required more machinery, and the mer-
chants were willing to pay more for a
more imposing machine.

Groetchen was really the first to
oblige. The former tool-making firm got
patents on proprietary play features and
upgraded old game ideas to modern guise.
In that, Groetchen ROYAL FLUSH was a
trendsetter. The upgrading really started
with the Groetchen 21 VENDER with its
patented windows and hold-and-draw fea-
ture. By the time the ROYAL FLUSH
came along, the innovative enhancement

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had included a marvelous double-row of
card symbols covered and subsequently
uncovered by one-two- shutters on each
reel window. Groetchen called their new
machine the “King of Counter Games”
because it played a “Selective Draw Poker
Game.”

Here’s how it works: The machine
has five reels split in half to make them
look like ten and takes any one of four
coins, penny, nickel, dime or quarter. You
play, push down the handle, and the reels
spin to a stop. According to Groetchen, at
this stage the machine had a “new shuf-
fling — cutting dealing action, giving a per-
fect motion picture effect.” Once you saw
your hand, you could hold or draw one or
as many cards as you wanted. Groetchen
says, “S shutters, (with one or up to five)
released by player aiter first deal (giving
the player the) option to discard unwanted
cards and draw new cards or a whole new
hand from a second set of reels.”” What
happens is that you push the hold buttons

139

under each reel to keep what you want,
and push the handle down again. With
that — snap! — the first set of unwanted
cards are covered by shutters and the sec-
ond set of symbols (actually, the so-called
draw is really the symbol shared by the
one that came up, now exposed by the
moving shutters to become visible) fill the
bottom windows.

So, for one coin, you get a deal and an
additional draw, or apparently two full
deals. The idea of doubling up the sym-
bols on the reels for the same show was so
unique Groetchen played it to the hilt.
They said “Nothing can compare with the
new ‘Motion Picture’ reel action of the
ROYAL FLUSH. You must see it ... to
appreciate this ingenious development.”
And revealing, too. If you memorized the
dual symbols you could learn how to con-
sistently beat the game.

140

DIXIE DOMINOES

Produced between 1937 and 1939

( "cis games these counter games.
Clever, too, are the many variations
possible in a single cabinet and the

pull-out uses of a basic mechanism. The

Groetchen DIXIE DOMINOES looks so

much like the Groetchen ROYAL FLUSH

you’d almost swear they were the same
games.

Not by a long shot! It may be the
same basic cabinet, and the reels still num-
ber five, but from there on out you’re talk-
ing a different game altogether. A closer
look shows the differences rather quickly.
The five reel windows are smaller, so no
double symbols under shutters. The game
is obviously simpler because the directions
and reward card area are a lot smaller.
Lastly, those aren’t playing card spots in
the reel windows; they’re pictures of dice.

The game here isn’t dominoes at all;
it’s dice. In fact, DIXIE DOMINOES
isn’t some rare and exotic dice game, and
it has nothing to do with dominoes.
“Dixie,” or “Southern” dominoes, my
friends, are the grand old game of craps.
That marvelous volume in The Old West
series by Time-Life books called “The
Gamblers” captures the essence of the
game. Quoting for this mini-review, page
77 has a great old photograph and says,
“Throughout the riverboat era, off-duty
deck hands could be found crouched on
the main deck among the freight and fur-
naces. Here these roustabouts rolled ‘the
bones’ in this fast-paced game the blacks
had developed from a European dice
game, hazard.” So that was the birth of
craps, played incessantly by the freighting
crews as the sternwheelers plied their way
up and down the mighty Mississippi.
While the boats plied, the players pried the
money out of the pockets of their fellows.
As the game moved north, it picked up its
DIXIE DOMINOE nickname, somehow
suggesting that the honorable name of
craps wasn’t suitable for tender northern
ears.

The Groetchen DIXIE DOMINOES
has play features as clever as the ROYAL
FLUSH, only different. Play a penny and
push the handle and five reels spin. Only
the first is visible; the other four are shut-
tered. Reel 1 shows two dice symbols. If
they total 7 or 11, you win a counter pay-
out and the game’s over. Add up to 2, 3 or
12 and you crap out and the game’s over.
But get 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 and you’ ve got a
point to make. So you release one shutter
at a time, left to right, until you either crap
out with a 7 or make your point. If you
make it, the payout in trade is 2 to 4, or up
to 10, depending on how many reels it
took to make it. You’ve got four “rolls”

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Groetchen

Mite

ZEROES GE IEIL IE Sp PONS AE ATO RT Pate ES TOS EEN a es TR Abia Bath Wh Yop peti

Groetchen DIXIE DOMINOES. Bill Whelan Collection.

to wrap it up, but there are so many 7 sym-
bols on the latter reels you’re lucky to last
it past a roll or two.

Another variation of the game has let-
ters on the reels that spell four-letter
words, with an odds number on the fifth
reel. It was called DIXIE SPELLING
BEE. These machines aren’t rare, but they
also aren’t very well known.

ri
Pe

co
nel

hen trade stimulator collector
Rich Penn was making one of
his periodic trashing trips in

eastern Iowa some years back, he ran
across a pinball deal that was a bit rich for
his blood. So Rich played poor and said

Bally LITE-A-PAX. Rich Penn Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES

Bally
LITE-A-PAX

Produced between 1937 and 1939

he wouldn’t pop for the package unless the
offer included a somewhat beat-up pinball
backglass in a counter cabinet that was sit-
ting on a shelf. The guy said okay, and
Rich walked out poorer but proud. Also
puzzled.

14]

As Rich tells it, “I didn’t know what I
had, but it looked kind of cute, and had
Lucky Strike green packages on the top
row of symbols, so I guessed it was older
than it looked and I liked it.” So Rich took
it home, plugged it in, and tripped out.
Slide in a penny, nickel dime, or quarter
and lights start flickering on and off all
over the place until they stop, one lighted
cigarette panel in each of four vertical
rows. Rich again, “Some of the bulbs
were burned out, but this thing was
bizarre. It wasn’t a slot machine or
counter game at all. What it is is the dis-
play features of a pinball game taken out
of the pinball game, so all you’ve got is
flash and not the game.”

The author went trotting over to see
the thing right after Rich got it, and a
flickering fantasy of electric excitement
followed. There aren’t many electric
counter games, and the ones that are elec-
tric generally light one static bulb or shake
the dice, but that’s it. The Bally LITE-A-
PAX goes far, far beyond that. For all the
world it has the look of a late 1950s or
early 1960 electronic upright machine,
except it’s countertop. The dead giveaway
to dating is that terrific row of Lucky
Strike green packages right at the top.
Right off the bat that says pre-WWII and
prior to 1942.

With that much going for the machine
it wasn’t tough to track it down. Just read
Bally ads in the trade publications starting
1941 and going backwards. It flashed in
both The Billboard and in Automatic Age
in 1937, but not long after, or before. So it
was a Short life machine, probably stretch-
ing a year or two, but barely more. The
ads called it “Bally’s newest counter game
hit!” There was another kicker for the ads
added “Cigarette packages in full colors
(and full-size, too. They didn’t mention
that) illuminated by flashing lights creates
sensational eye appeal. Replacement
fronts for various different game at slight
extra charge insure perpetual profits with
amazingly low investment.” A horse race
theme version was also built called
PONIES.

Other fronts and other games? Fan-
tastic! But where are they? This is a rare
machine, and only a few of the cigarette
models are known. To my knowledge
none of the other replacement front games
exist. One can imagine fruit symbols, or
cards, maybe colors. We have no idea if
these variations exist. But maybe they do
and you’ve got one. Whatever, if you ever
see one of these “boxed backglasses,” grab
it!

142

ere’s a heavyweight machine with
H: lot of guts and a lot of parts and

an automatic token payout. That’s
a metered token payout from payout slides
with one to four tokens spit out depending
on the win. It’s Jennings, it’s big time,
and it acts like a slot.

The machine should look familiar. It
started life as the Jennings GRAND-
STAND, and its story is covered in the
first volume of J/lustrated Guide to 100
Collectible Trade Stimulators. At a nickel
a play, its play was limited, so the PENNY
CLUB resulted.

By far the most outstanding character-
istic of the game is its great reward card,
only it doesn’t look like one. It’s a simu-
lated Lucky Strike green package that
doesn’t say Lucky Strike, but suggests this
leading brand of its day. Cigarettes had
just jumped from 11¢ to 15¢ a pack
around this time, so the chance to win a
pack (per token) or up to four packs for a
penny (at the low end that’s 15:1 and 60:1
at the high end) was quite an incentive.

Jennings promoted these hefty
counter games as being as “rugged as a
battleship.” In a direct stab at the counter
cigarette games of the day, Jennings said
that these machines were “not flimsy
three-week” machines, “but a good solid,
substantial machine that you can count on,
day after day, month after month.” By the
time the PENNY CLUB hit the market,
there had been enough experience with the
games to claim that they had “long been
recognized as the only precision built
counter machines equipped with automatic
payout,” adding “operators can always
check the amount of merchandise paid out.
Has newly perfected one piece coin chute
that’s positive and jam proof.”

It’s that coin chute (first a single hole
and later seen as a bulky structure at the
top) that separates the Jennings GRAND-
STAND and the PENNY CLUB from the
original machine in this series. The first to
be made was a 1936 model called CLUB
VENDER, the beginning of the line. It
introduced the check payout system with
two payout tubes that hold 94 checks each,
or a total of 186 payout tokens. Ata
penny a play, the CLUB VENDER theo-
retically had enough payout tokens to han-
dle $40 in play, or four thousand pulls of
the handle.

These machines tend to be modestly
rare and highly desirable. GRAND-
STAND is the most common, followed by
PENNY CLUB. The CLUB VENDER is
the rarest.

Jennings
PENNY CLUB

Jennings PENNY CLUB. Charles Deibel Collection.

THE 100 MACHINES

Daval
BELL SLIDE

Produced between 1938 and 1939

Daval BELL SLIDE. Bill Whelan Collection.

ots of color. Big. Fruit symbols, on
five reels no less. A reward card

showing fruit symbols and payouts
of from 2 to 40, with the big winner five
lemons — that’s got to be a first — all make
the Daval BELL SLIDE a unique game.

If you’ve read the first volume of
these trade stimulator price guide and his-
tory books, you’ll know that the counter
games of the late 1930s broke away from
their cigar and candy award past and either
got closer to their bigger automatic payout
slot brothers in size, return or even token
vending, or got a lot smaller as miniatur-
ized counter games you could hide under
the counter in an instant. The Daval
BELL SLIDE is one of the former and got
about as close as you can get to being a
Bell machine without the automatic pay-
outs. One model even had a jackpot.

BELL SLIDE was meant to be a
pseudo-feature Bell. An old press release
by Daval in January 1938 tips it. Quoting
Al Douglis, the president of Daval (and
the “Al” part of the Daval name. The
“Dav” part was named after business part-
ner Dave Helfenbein.) “The Cherry-Bell

symbols have become a tradition to play-
ers in every part of the world. But the
shutter-and-button selection feature which
was introduced by Daval a few years ago
caught on so rapidly that it supplemented
the Cherry-Bell appeal. Daval engineers
quicly saw the possible results from a
combination of the Cherry-Bell and shut-
ter-and-button selection. This Bell slide
was visualized, perfected and housed in a
Puritan Bell game for the first time.”

If you’ve ever worked in an engineer-
ing office, you’ll know that this is all
baloney. Draftsmen draw what they’re
told to draw, and people on the board
don’t spend a lot of time visualizing. That
generally comes out of sales. But if you
think all that was bull, hang on. It gets
even deeper.

Continuing to quote Al Douglis, “It
affords one a lot of pleasure to watch play-
ers deliberately set out to play BELL
SLIDE for a definite period of time. They
don’t think much of winning or losing.
Rather, they want to thrill to the excite-
ment provoked by the game. It’s real fun
to try again and again to attempt the selec-

143

tion of the proper buttons which, when
pressed, will open corresponding shutters
and reveal a winning combination. Actu-
ally, there are five reels, one of which is
alway exposed to view. The player selects
two of four buttons. If he loses, he sees
immediately how a winner might have
been made had he picked the right buttons.
As added inducements are odds as high as
40 to 1 and something quite novel in daz-
zling modernistic cabinet design.”

Aw, come on, Douglis. Do you
expect us to believe all that malarkey?
People didn’t; the game never became
popular.

144

hat’s in a name? A lot of things
when it comes to counter games,
and, mostly other games. If that

sounds like a Zen riddle, here’s the mean-
ing of it all. 21. PERFECTION. DRAW
POKER. IMP. JOKER.

These are the machine names that
mean too much or too many. If any col-
lector tells you they’ve got a 21 or a PER-
FECTION, a DRAW POKER or an IMP
or even a JOKER, about all you can do is
say, “That’s nice” and wonder what
they’ve really got. These were the big
trade. stimulator and counter game names
that repeated and repeated over the years,
each being applied to anywhere from a trio
to a dozen or more machines that had no
relation to each other other than the same
name. So, if someone tells you they’ve
got a JOKER, you’re lost, but if they say a
Daval JOKER, you’re found. Maybe.

Here’s the maybe part. Incredibly,
Daval made two JOKER machines around
the same time. One was the JOKER
(that’s this machine) and the second was
the JOKER GUM VENDOR (that’s the
next machine) which was entirely differ-
ent. This piece of information makes you
just this side of an “expert” in late 1930s
counter games as this is one of the most
confusing points in the whole coin
machine collectible field. So flaunt it, and
watch others accord you — in the words of
comic Rodney Dangerfield — respek.

The first Daval JOKER has a super
modern cabinet, or what passed for one
back in ‘38. It’s made of wood and is
severely plain. The idea, it seems, was to
make it look like something it wasn’t in
order to subvert the searching eye of the
heat. The Daval promos tell the story
when they state “Actually looks like a
beautiful radio on the counter,” which they
called their “greatest come-on.” That
assumes that players were different from
officers of the law, with players spotting a
JOKER as a counter game from ten yards
away while the uniformed defender of
public morals couldn’t see one when he
was staring right at it.

The radio-style carved cabinet wasn’t
unique to JOKER; the Daval TRACK
REELS and a few other games used these
unique “Woodie” cases. Even the paper
from the front under glass is misleading.
It says JOKER-WILD on the reward card
below the big JOKER name at the top and
the five poker reels in the middle, so some
collectors call this the JOKER WILD.

For some reason Daval JOKER
machines aren’t near the top of the desire-
ability list, yet they are quite unique. They
buy and bid cheap and get traded a lot.

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Daval
JOKER

Produced Denver” wes and 1940

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Often their wooden cabinets are trashed
and restoration is hardly worth the effort at
present values. To my mind, the machine
is a Sleeper as there aren’t that many
around.

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THE 100 MACHINES

Daval

145

JOKER GUM VENDOR

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Produced between 1938 and 1941

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Daval JOKER GUM VENDOR. Bill Whelan Collection.

Daval JOKER, also called JOKER

WILD, were confusing here comes a
machine that out-confuses the already con-
fused. The cabinet is vintage Daval,
“hump back” or “round top” and all, with
a name that makes it sound like something
else. Actually we should say names, not
just name.

To recap: The name JOKER is cast in
the aluminum at the top. That’s okay as
far as it goes, but it’s not enough to identi-
fy the machine. The name continues
below the five poker reels, adding GUM
VENDOR. So JOKER GUM VENDOR is
the full machine name and appears as such
on the top line of the reward card. But
then Daval further confuses the issue by
adding a printed line below that saying
“Joker Wild Poker,” and the token card on
the reels is identified as “Joker Wild.”
Geez! That’s enough to make any buff do
some head scratching.

The Daval JOKER GUM VENDOR —

E: you thought the dual names of the

once you know what it is — 1s an imposing
game. It has one of the greatest Daval
“hump back” cabinets ever made with lots
of detail in the castings. Catch those poker
suit spots at the bottom right, the casting
detail around the reward card, and that
great name on top. More color is added by
the reward card, with this and may other
examples carrying a cancelled Federal
Revenue stamp because of the playing
card features of the game.

Other nuts-and-bolts features are
characteristic of the Daval line of the day.
The original buyer could get the Daval
JOKER GUM VENDOR in single coin
play (either 1¢ or 5¢) or in multiple coin
play to work on a penny, nickel, dime or
quarter. The “gum vendor” part of the
machine name has its own value for Daval
promoted its “hump back” cabinet for the
JOKER GUM VENDOR as “a sanitary
gum vendor model.” They also saw the
cabinet for what it is and promoted the
“aluminum cabinet of lasting beauty” for

the machine. The topper, or the bottomer
depending on how you see it, is the fact
that the Daval JOKER GUM VENDOR is
also mounted on a swivel or “turntable”
base so the merchant can swing it around
on the counter to confirm any win before a
trade payout.

The Daval JOKER GUM VENDOR
has another characteristic that is associated
with poker, as do most counter games. If
you’re playing poker with someone who
has a hand that beats the pants off every-
one else in the game, but doesn’t call it
that way, or calls a pair when a full house
is showing, it’s their tough luck. When
you call it as you see it, you might not be
seeing all there is to see. So if you’re
playing the JOKER GUM VENDOR and
miss seeing a winner, it’s your tough luck.
No call, no pay.

146 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Withey
SEVEN GRAND

Produced between 1938 and 1941

f there was any glaring omission in the
| volume trade stimulator book it

was the lack of reference to the large
countertop circular dice games made by
B.A. Withey Company, Inc. up on the
north side of Chicago. Bert Withey was
an old hand in the business and made and
sold punch boards for years after the First
World War. By 1928 Withey was making
an attractive countertop aluminum punch
board with a replaceable board and had a
long line of other boards that sold like hot-
cakes across the country. When the thir-
ties came along, old Bert decided he ought
to cash in on the rage for coin operated
counter games, so he went back and stud-
ied some of the early and ancient patents
in the art, cribbed them his way, and came
out with an updated idea of a bunch of old
dice games one at a time until he had a
whole line of the machines.

The Withey dicers are big, well made,
and highly utilitarian. More than anything
they are old tavern or cigar store pieces
because they are too big to have been
placed at the cashier’s counter in a drug-
store, ice cream parlor or restaurant. The
first of the bunch was a dicer called KING
SIX, followed by KING SIX, JR. (slightly
smaller) and then by SEVEN GRAND and
some others. B.A. Withey didn’t advertise
much, but when they did they always said,
“Manufactured for operators only by B.A.
Withey,” dropping reference to “Compa-
ny, Inc.” out of the former firm name.

Most of the Withey machines are

basically much the same, the difference
being in size and the type or number of Withey SEVEN GRAND. Bill Whelan Collection.
dice used. The Withey SEVEN GRAND,
for instance, was two games in one. Two
sets of dice came with the machine. The look great, and play easy, but because of
normal spot dice were used for “free play” their fine wood veneer cabinets, they often
play, meaning the player got so many _ cry out for restoration.
“free plays” for a winner. Don’t you
believe it, for the “free plays” were a
euphemism for “pays.” Toss, or spin out,
seven of the same spots with the dice and
you got “100 Free Plays,” meaning the
merchant gave you 100 times what you
played in cash or credit. With a four-way
coin slot, that meant you’d win a dollar on
penny play, five dollars on a nickel, ten
dollars on a dime, or twenty-five bucks on
a single throw of the dice if you played a
quarter. The last-coin-played window
confirmed the coinage.

The second set of dice had cigarette
symbols. At nickel play you’d win twenty
packs of your choice when seven of the
same kind came up, and lesser awards for
lower numbers of the same brand. It’s not
a sophisticated game and likewise it’s not
complicated. These machines are great,

THE 100 MACHINES

Keeney

147

SPINNER WINNER

Keeney SPINNER WINNER

ew counter games of the late thirties
H:: as imposing as the Keeney SPIN-

NER WINNER. This is a big, flat,
countertop, multiple-coin play counter
game that looks almost like an automatic
payout console. And that’s just the way it
was promoted. Keeney called it a “Con-
sole-Action Counter game” and described
it as follows: “Spinner Winner, our 8-coin
console action counter-game, is sure
bringing in console earnings on counter
game locations. It takes pennies, nickels,
dimes and quarters without any slugs as
last coin played is visible.”

That’s a lot of hardware for a counter
game, yet Keeney carried the console
comparison even further. SPINNER
WINNER is electric, not for the play prin-
ciples, but for light-up flash. The game

AEG AEN RD RSINS NG aeesaean eee wr : ;
, : Fe SNE ELNINO AROS PhS SET WE aig A ema Fi DAUM I Got

Produced between 1939 and 1941

. Photography by Bill Whelan.

came in a selection of light up tops, show-
ing dice, numbers or cigarette packs.
Whatever the top glass, the lights spun,
coming to rest on a winner. That’s the
trick. Every stop was a winner, provided
you played the hole. With eight ways to
go that made it tricky, with the picking and
the playing a decision-making process of
monumental significance.

The dice top and number top SPIN-
NER WINNER models seem to have sur-
vived in the best numbers, but these num-
bers are small. The dice version is shown
in the photograph. The playing arm is at
the lower right, gum vender at front left,
and the eight coin slots at the top. The
coin chutes are marked out in cast alu-
minum to match the top glass, in this case
showing dice “throws” to match the dice

symbols illuminated by the inside spinner.
The maker is J.H. Keeney and Company,
Not Inc., from the south side of Chicago,
an outgrowth of the earlier Keeney and
Sons, Incorporated, makers of the Keeney
MAGIC CLOCK of some pages back.
While Keeney made some counter games,
they were never really big in the field.
Their major business was in Consoles and
Console Bell machines, a field in which
they were major pioneers. SPINNER
WINNER was an outgrowth of this bigger
machine technology and you get the
impression it was produced to keep the
Keeney glass shop busy between con-
soles.

The pricing of these machines might
interest you. When it came out in January
1939, it sold for $39.50, a heck of a belt
for a counter game when most were selling
for $25 or less and you could get a Baby
Bell or something similar for less than
$10. Even used, the machine went for
$24.50 by middle 1939, dropping to $8.50
by the end of the year. That suggests a
flop, and a flop suggest rarity. Today’s
value is over ten times original cost, and if
counter games ever start climbing higher,
you can bet these will be out in front.

148

ust off the wild card names; we’ve
1): another one! And it’s ona

machine that most collectors have
listed as an “unidentified” or “mystery”
machine. If you have one of these, what
you’ll learn in the following lines is well
worth the price of this book.

Even if you’re knee keep in counter
games you might never have heard of the
J.M. Sanders Manufacturing Company of
Chicago because it was practically a secret
outfit. It’s mentioned briefly in the first
trade stimulator volume in the description
of the Groetchen DANDY VENDER of
1932. To save you the backtracking, the
copy says, ““This is the machine that set the
pattern for most counter games for the rest
of their existence. The machine was origi-
nally developed by J.M. Sanders of the
Sanders Manufacturing Company on the
west side of Chicago around 1928.” Just
about the whole Sanders story is there if
you know what to look for. Sanders origi-
nated the Baby Bell machine and made
them for others under private label.
Sanders also made a lot of machines for
other firms, making parts, components,
complete machines or just selling ideas to
Groetchen, Daval, Garden City, Midwest
Novelty, Pierce, Lion Manufacturing, and
a bunch of others over the years.

Sanders also made and sold machines
under their own name, but they didn’t
push it much. For one thing, the firm
name changed around a lot. The Sanders
Manufacturing Company of the twenties
became the J.M. Sanders Manufacturing
Company of the thirties, then the Sanders
Products Company of 1938, reverting to
J.M. Sanders Manufacturing Company in
1939 with a few additiviial changes there-
after. Actually the common thread of the
Sanders name doesn’t make it difficult to
follow the course of this business. What
does make it difficult is the lower than low
profile maintained by the firm over the
years.

J.M. Sanders wasn’t a recluse; he was
a good businessman. He knew his games
were unique, mechanically distinctive and
technically advanced. He also knew that
his bread was buttered by Daval, Garden
City, Pierce, et al, so he didn’t rub their
nose in his good works. But he did contin-
ue to sell his games on his own. The
catchy part is that he never put his name
on them. The cabinets (neat, streamlined
and well-organized) carry no markings.
The reward cards (simple, short and sweet)
just show the rewards. Therefore, the
Sanders machines are super plain and
largely unidentifiable. But once you know
the basic Sanders cabinets by mold and die

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Sanders
DEUCES WILD

Produced between 1939 and 1941

4 ™

Ba.
™

; 'e pe:

work, you can spot a Sanders machine by
sight with just a quick glance. The basic
1938 Sanders cabinet, shown here on
DEUCES WILD, was also used on LIT-
TLE POKER FACE and a few others in a
variety of colors.

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Cues DEUCES WILD. Bill Whelan Collection:

THE 100 MACHINES

Baker
PICK-A-PACK

Produced between 1939 and 1941

Baker PICK-A-PACK. Bill Whelan Collection.

all the way. The Baker PICK-A-PACK

is a superhot collectible and it just goes
to show how unfair time can be to the
players on the stage of life. The thought
behind that heavy line is real. Veteran
coin-op entrepreneur Harold Baker, the
crafty devil, stole this machine from oth-
ers, yet it’s the Baker game that com-
mands the price and attention.

The basic machine idea started life
bocu years ago as the Colby COMBINA-
TION LUNG TESTER AND DICE
SHAKING MACHINE in the early 1890s.
A later trade stimulator volume will have
the story of this machine. The idea came
back time after time at the turn of the Cen-
tury, again before World War 1, back
again in the twenties, and then as INDIAN

[: its day it hardly held sway; but today,

DICE by D. Gottlieb & Company in 1938,
an interesting point as Gottlieb has long
contended that they had nothing to do with
gambling machines. That’s neither here
nor there at this point for what counts here
is that Baker Novelty and Manufacturing
Company of Chicago swiped the idea from
Gottlieb and came out with PICK-A-
PACK in 1939.

What Baker did was substitute
Cigarette dice for spot dice, and boy, did
the game take off. Baker had been
scratching away at consoles — revamps of
the Pace PACES RACES called BAKERS
PACERS - and revainped Pace and Mills
slots for years without really catching the
public fancy. PICK-A-PACK put a stop to
the foot dragging and the Baker Novelty
Company, Inc. (they changed their name

149

soon after PICK-A-PACK came out) was
booming.

The game is simple. Drop in the
penny, pull down the side handle, and the
three dice in captive vertical columns
behind glass jump and settle down to a
show. Get three of the same kind and
match the brand to the spinner in the cen-
ter of the cabinet and you get a package of
cigarettes. Baker said it had “no reels, no
gimmicks, no mystery.” True enough, for
the game action is right out in front for all
to see. At those odds who needed mystery
or subterfuge. Getting three of a kind on
the dice isn’t that common, and getting the
fourth match to the spinner made it
tougher, yet the payoff was 15:1 at I5¢ a
pack. So the Baker PICK-A-PACK
picked off the pennies like peas in a pod.
Profitably!

Actually, the neat part is that the play-
er has two chances at winning. Fora
penny, PICK-A-PACK offers a play and a
draw, with hold buttons below each col-
umn. Get three of a kind on the play, or
work up to it on the draw and you win a
pack. But get three of a kind on the play,
and then take the draw and get three of a
kind again and you get two packs. That
really picked their pockets out in the
provinces.

150

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Daval

STAR AMERICAN EAGLE

hat you have here is the basic,
plain but plentiful counter game
of the forties and the short and

not so sweet comeback of counter games
in the late forties and early fifties. It’s
probable that there are more of these
games around than any other, and it’s
common knowledge that most counter
game collectors, and even some payout
slot collectors, have started their interest
with a front-pull Daval from the ‘40s or
‘SOs.

To be perfectly honest, it’s not the
STAR AMERICAN EAGLE that is so
well-known; it’s the whole line. Mechani-
cally they are all pretty much alike. There
are two basic models, the AMERICAN
EAGLE with fruit reels and the MAR-
VEL with cigarette reels. At that point,
both lines split two ways, then two ways
from each split, then two more ways from
that and on and on. What happens is that
every model change that come up in most
cases came up for both AMERICAN
EAGLE and MARVEL. And the changes
are practically endless.

To start out, the token payout AMER-
ICAN EAGLE and MARVEL hit the
stands early in 1940 in 1¢ and 5¢ play
models. So that’s four models, Then they
were available with “jackpot” windows
showing gumballs, to make eight models.
Add “GA” or “Gold Award” models to
that and you’ve got sixteen. Then came
the TAX FREE AMERICAN EAGLE and
TAX FREE MARVEL models that played
without a coin, and the “visible token
retaining’ models — you see what you win,
but no physical payout — and a bunch of
“specialty” models and you’re up over
thirty variations.

The Daval AMERICAN EAGLE had
more “specialty” models than the MAR-
VEL did for the simple reason it was the
line leader and not tied to the restrictions
of cigarette reels. The Daval STAR
AMERICAN EAGLE, shown here, is a
classic example. Where the standard
AMERICAN EAGLE had the fruit reels of
its larger slot machine cousins, the STAR
AMERICAN EAGLE has its own sym-
bols: stars, diamonds, a clover leaf, a red
heart and a ring. This is a “free play”
game, with the panel on top saying “Any
of these good luck combinations receive a
token good for 5-10-15-25-50 or 100 Free
Plays.” Well, you know what that means.
At penny play the “25 Free Play” token
was turned in for a quarter, et cetera.

The Daval STAR AMERICAN
EAGLE came in 1¢ or 5¢ plain or ball
gum models and token payout or “visible
token retaining” (“visible” for short) mod-

Produced between 1940 and 1952

els, for a total of eight variations. This is
the plain, 1¢, token payout model with
“Star Symbol Reel Strips,” the latter the
option in place of fruit reels that made it
the STAR AMERICAN EAGLE. So

Daval STAR AMERICAN EAGLE. Photography by Bill Whelan .

check your reel strips to see what you’ve
got. You may be a star! Either way you
don’t have to be a star to be in the counter
game show; just have some machines.

THE 100 MACHINES

Groetchen
IMP

Produced between 1940 and 1951

Rep
bie | ei
BG ss 3

Groetchen IMP. Rich Penn Collection.

e’re back to playing catch-up
again, and putting a counter
game in its proper place in a

trade stimulator book rather than in a book
about automactic payout slot machines.
Rather, we’re playing straighten out, for
when the first volume of An Illustrated
Price Guide to the 100 Most Collectible
Trade Stimulators came out it had a smat-
tering of trade stimulators and counter
games to show a broad selection of coin
machines. How did we know that the
books would become so popular that they
would quickly go into specialized series
with multiple volumes in each? In short, if
we don’t separate the payouts from the
playful early in the game in an orderly
fashion, we’ll never get the chance later.
The Groetchen IMP, first introduced

in January 1940, is probably the best
known counter game of all time. It is also
available in greater numbers than any
other counter game, usually with cigarette
reels, but also with number and fruit reels.
When WW? was over, Groetchen brought
the IMP back to life for new and aggres-
sive counter machine sales. The post-war
models have fruit or cigarette reels (no
numbers) but settle into penny play and
cigarette reels as the standard, three-of-a-
kind paying off in a pack. The IMP story
and its origins as a counter game take off
of the automatic payout Mills VEST
POCKET are covered in detail in the first
volume of slot collectibles, so if you’re
into IMPS you’ll want to read it. What
isn’t covered is how IMPS are generally
found and what you can do about it. First

IS!

of all, there are two versions of IMP, pre-
WwW? and post-war. The 1940-1941 IMP
had fruit, cigarette or number reels and a
flap that hides the reel windows. The out-
side of the flap is decorated to look like
the dial of a radio. Inside the flap, once
it’s flipped over to expose the reels, carries
the copy “Your coin buys ball of delicious
fruit gum, always fresh. Watch the reels
spin around and try to line up three sym-
bols of a kind for Additional Amusement.”
That “Additional Amusement,” as you no
doubt guessed, was a counter payoff. The
postwar models dropped that copy and
added a reward card showing the symbols
under the flap. A few years later IMP was
changed again.

The change didn’t come until spring
1949 when a modified IMP with a larger
cash box was added to the line as ATOM,
the name itself a catch phrase that was
widely used after the explosion of the
atomic bombs over Japan (literally ending
World War 2) and after the post-war atom-
ic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific
Ocean (“Bikini” was added to the lan-
guage at the same time, to describe a
bathing suit!). The world was on the verge
of the Atomic Age, and counter games
were on the verge of extinction.

ATOM started out with cigarette reels
in dime play, offering a carton of cigare-
tees for three-of-a-kind. Groetchen called
the game “small as a mite” with “Profits
Big as a Giant.” ATOM was ultimately
available in penny or penny-nickel play
with fruit or cigarette reels, but these mod-
els tend to be rare. The bigger cash box of
ATOM was just the thing the high labor
cost post-war operator was looking for.
The diminutive machine holds $80.00 in
dimes!

IMPS aren’t rare; they border on the
common. But some models are rarer than
others and in the long run they’ll be worth
more. The most common models are the
pre-war cigarette reels, followed by fruit.
Number reels are the hardest to find and
suggest a low population, so they’re my
bet for top desireability. Post-war IMPS
have cigarette reels, most common, and
fruit reels as shown in the photograph. In
this case the flap is open so you can see
the reward card.

Unfortunately, many IMP machines,
any date, are found with their flaps miss-
ing. Enough are gone, suggesting that
operators removed them to indicate that a
replacement IMP flap is an effort worthy
of reproduction. The only problem is that
IMP values are so low it’s hardly worth
the effort. Someday that will change.

132

s goes IMP, so goes CUB. It’s the
An story. The Daval CUB is

described in that first slot book and
more rightfully deserves to be here in a
book about trade stimulators.

CUB has a history similar to IMP,
only CUB development went further. A
flat-out take-off on the Groetchen IMP, the
Daval CUB came out in November 1940,
following the introduction of the IMP that
summer. The same reel variations were
offered: fruit, numbers and cigarettes. But
Daval then split the CUB offerings into
two variations of each. The standard
model had a divided cash box that put
three coins in the location’s box for every
fourth coin to the operator for a 75%-25%
split. An even richer merchant take was
offered in the 80%-20% model whereby
the merchant got four coins out of five.
The location also got a key so they could
keep taking their money out of their small-
er cash box to keep it circulating while the
operators’ take piled up awaiting collec-
tion time. The 80%-20% model is the
rarer of the two, and the numbers reel ver-
sion is so out of it that most collectors
have never seen one. That makes the
numbers reel, 80%-20% model the true
rarity of the genre.

But so what! There is such little seri-
ous acquisition of these machines one
wonders if their value will ever change. In
a move contrary to the trend the prices on
the IMP and the CUB dropped in the late
1970s and never really stabilized by the
time of writing. Both lines suffer from
hardware loss, with the reel flaps and
strangely the backs often missing. The
Daval machines have seemed to fare better
over the years in regard to their flaps, testi-
mony to a better job of mounting.

While the IMP seems to be more pop-
ular than the CUB that may only be a
function of greater availability. Actually,
the CUB is more interesting. The cash
box variations and the front cash box lock
add features to the machine, and the visi-
ble gumball display adds flash. Ina
machine only 6-1/2” tall, Daval packed in
a gumball window that shows off a multi-
colored selection of gumballs.

The CUB was also basic enough to
lead to a variety of spin-off models. With
five reels carrying poker spots it became
ACE, and with the addition of a hold-and-
draw feature and a larger cash box base in
1941 it became the Daval 21. Both ACE
and 21 are described in detail in the first
trade stimulator volume.

Why the big cash box for the opera-
tor, and what did it mean competitively?
The Daval literature of 1940 tells the tale:

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Daval
CUB

Produced between 1940 and 1951

“The capacity of the operator’s cash box is
three times that of the location’s cash box.
This and the fact that the location owner
has access to his own cash box enables the
operator to make only one check up trip to
four with games not having a coin divider
and separate cash boxes.” That’s like
stomping on the IMP in print.

THE 100 MACHINES

Daval

1940 DIVIDER PENNY PACK

Produced between 1940 and 1942

Daval 1940 DIVIDER PENNY PACK. Bill Whelan Collection.

ou’ve got to hand it to the Daval
outfit; they were clever. That ideal
of splitting the cash boxes so the
locations and the operator already had
their shares pre-sorted was a lulu. It was
also an old idea that goes back to the Puri-
tan and Mills PURITAN of 1905. But as
in all things, he who promotes what he’s
got gets the lasting franchise on its exis-
tence.

Daval ran with that self-proclaimed
“franchise” as far as they could and posi-
tioned themselves as the true friend of the
operator. This feature and others were
added to other games in the line to multi-

ply the basic models and offer the market
new machines that went beyond the norm.
It was the well-liked Daval PENNY
PACK that ended up with the full treat-
ment, and then some.

Take a look at the 1940 PENNY
PACK in the first trade stimulator volume
and compare it to this one. At first glance
they look alike, but a little more looking
reveals amazing differences. As starters
they both have the fabulous lighted
cigarette graphics whereby the name
PENNY PACK is strung along a cigarette
that trails a wafting shaft of smoke at its
left end. From that graphic point upward

things are the same. But from that point
down, everything changes. The cabinet
gets longer and taller.

The 1940 DIVIDER PENNY PACK
was also made in a gumball window
model with a covered gum chute. You
could also get the machine with a whole
new base including a swivel so the mer-
chant can view the show from behind the
counter by turning the machine rather that
walking around or taking the player’s
word.

Daval’s PENNY PACK line had a
long life. The name first showed up on an
older-looking machine in 1935. In 1938
the more modern round top was intro-
duced. By the time the 1940 PENNY
PACK and 1940 DIVIDER PENNY
PACK models were introduced a leading
dealer in Fayetteville, North Carolina was
saying “Greatest non-payout counter game
in history. Seven years in production.
1940 cigarette reel model tops them all.
It’s beautiful and it’s a money getter.”

While you might think World War 2
would have ended the run, it didn’t. After
the war the 1940 PENNY PACK models
came back, but not from Daval. The Abco
Novelty Company of Chicago bought up
all the old PENNY PACK machines they
could find, ran them through their rebuild-
ing operation, and sold Abco rebuilt
PENNY PACKS well into the 1950s for a
little over ten bucks. Even then, they
called them “the greatest counter game
ever built.”” So if your PENNY PACK has
an Abco sticker, you’ve got the postwar
rebuild.

154

he two major wars that shaped the
" [tent Century are more than
points in history. They are also ref-
erence points in terms of consumer pro-
ductivity. Twice in the current century the
production of consumer goods was
stopped to meet wartime needs, giving you
an idea of what a thin line of raw material
supplies we live on. Once industrializa-
tion was a fact of advanced nation life, and
once the sophistication of military hard-
ware and weapons demanded all of the
steel, copper, silver, iron, aluminum,
bronze, et al that was available at any
given point in time, plus most of the ener-
gy needed for production, the consumer
got shafted.

It happened in 1917 and 1918 for
World War 1, and even longer (from 1941
through 1945) for World War 2. Con-
sumer goods and shopkeeper goods just
stopped, and when they came back after
the wars they were usually different, or
didn’t come back at all.

In coin machines, these two breaks in
what had always been breakneck produc-
tion have set the pre-war and post-war
machines of both wars apart, with the
design differences readily apparent to the
astute collector. This book, and the others
in the slot machine and trade stimulator
series, can help you a lot in machine iden-
tification and make you an instant dating
expert because you can readily see what
happened and how the machines differ in
appearance from one pre- and post-war era
to another.

Now that that’s been said we can get
into the most difficult identification area
of all, and that’s trying to decide if an odd-
ball trade stimulator unlike most of those
you’ ve seen around you is a late pre-WW2
or an early post-WW2 machine. It’s not
easy, let me tell you. And the Liberty
TWINS WIN was one of the toughest nuts
to crack.

When the machine pictured showed
up at an auction at Disneyland in Novem-
ber 1978 two attending collectors said,
“I’ve got one,” and quickly added, “But
what is it?” The 5-way coin receiver looks
somewhat naive and pre-war, but the
graphics have a definite fifties look. You
can play a penny, nickel or dime in any
one or more of the five coin chutes, pick-
ing a color when you do. There are
matching color dots and stars on the dice.
You pick your color or colors, shove in
the coin slide, and the dice are agitated. If
you played the right colors, two blues pay
3:1, two greens 5:1, two starts 20:1, two
yellows 10:1 and two reds 2:1; thus, twins
win!

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Liberty
TWINS WIN

Produced between 1940 and 1942

Liberty TWINS WIN. Photography by Bill Whelan.

The Liberty TWINS WIN was
tracked down the same way the really
ancient machines were. The printed front
of the machine says “Liberty Mfg. Co.,
Council Bluffs, Iowa.” The Council
Bluffs library was checked, and Liberty
was found to be an automotive after mar-
ket parts producer that started making
coin machines in 1941, stopping in 1942
when the war came along.

te a
-

he spotting and dating of pre-war

and post-war counter games gets

particularly tricky when you are
dealing with machines that were made
both before and after World War 2 and
looked alike at both times. There were
quite a number of machines that made the
jump (maybe twenty or thirty models or
so) but generally they were produced by
the better known or larger makers of
counter games. What seems to have hap-
pened is that the better equipped counter
game makers had machine and assembly
shops large enough to attract light contract
war work and keep their facilities together
while the smaller game makers with a
punch press or two and a couple of flat
tables for assembly couldn’t hack it or
watched as their key people got drafted

Produced between 194

. i ‘Br
4 <
Ss e-« ih

Sanders LUCKY PACK. Bill

THE 100 MACHINES

Sanders
LUCKY PACK

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helan Collection.

and were, therefore, knocked out of the
business.

At the risk of revealing my advanced
age, which is no big deal, I remember
working on a manual stamping press (they
were outlawed by OSHA years ago as too
dangerous!) for an old coot on Parkside
Avenue on the west side of Chicago mak-
ing wire springs that fit into the grip of a
colt 45 as part of the cartridge clip. The
old man (I wish I could remember his
name; I was 14 and he taught me the
foulest language I ever learned. He was
great, and a good friend.) had made a liv-
ing for years assembling counter game
clocks for the J.M. Sanders Manufacturing
Company six or seven blocks away on
west Lake Street. The counter game
clocks were all over the greasy old shop

1 and 1950

155

even after the place was knee deep in war
work, and the old guy kept saying he could
hardly wait to get the damn war out of the
way so he could get back into a business
he enjoyed, in spite of the fact that his
new military venture paid a lot better. I
went back to visit him once a few years
later after I was an Air Force Cadet and
found him sitting in a shop five times as
big full of automatic wire machines with
his long-obsolete kick presses in the back
room. The war would be over in a few
months, and he was eager to get back to
work for John Sanders if Sanders would
have him.

I never found out if he did, time, tide
and travel being what it was at the time.
Sanders, who also did subcontracted war
work, was in the same boat, but he obvi-
ously kept his patterns and dies because
right after the war ended he was back with
the neatest, fastest, most compact and
durable really small multi-reel counter
game line ever built. Sanders had intro-
duced his cigarette reel LUCKY PACK
counter game in 1941, just before the Pearl
Harbor attack had thrust the United States
into its biggest war. It’s the size of the
Groetchen IMP and the Daval CUB, but
has a better engineered mechanism and a
much larger cash box. Practically the
minute the war ended it came back, both
as a private label (which means Sanders
put other people’s names on it) and as a
Sanders machine.

156

LITTLE POKER FACE No. 2

Produced between 1941 and 1950

ee Ei is
Be
4 ote \

FACE had a larger, bulkier cabinet

similar to the DEUCES WILD
described eight pages back. But once
Sanders had his miniaturized machine that
ended fast, and LITTLE POKER FACE
NO. 2 came out in the same cabinet as the
LUCKY PACK, only with poker reels.

The machines aren’t much different,
except in the reels and reward cards. The
cabinet is rounded (no sharp corners any-
where) and crinkle-finished in a variety of
colors. The enamel bake ovens that
assured a long-life hard finish had been
introduced to industry only a few years
before, and once again the coin machine
industry was among the first to adopt a
new idea. Sanders introduced another
great idea to counter games, and that was
the instant access cash box. Typical of
the miniaturized counter games, the stan-
dard size lock looked so enormous that
Groetchen, Daval and others tended to try
and hide it on the back of the machine,
using it to open a flap that gave access to
the cash box. Access is about all it provid-
ed, for the merchant’s coin divider doors
tended to be small, leading to the ridicu-
lous act of lifting and shaking the hell out
of the game in order to get the money out
because the operator’s cash box was
locked up. This wasn’t exactly conducive
to proper machine maintenance for the
shaking and bouncing coins had a way of
kicking the shit out of the inside compo-
nents. Typical victims were the pot metal
pumps of the Daval games and the clock-
works of the Groetchen games.

Sanders played it straight and stuck
the big lock right in front — you can see it
well in the picture — so that it was right
there at collection time. After that it was
easy, for the cabinet is a clam shell; it
comes apart on the center line of the
machine left to right with both halves wide
open. The money literally falls out. The
only problem is that these machines are
hard to put back together again and lock
up. But that’s a manual act, not a violent
one. Thus the Sanders games in the
clamshell cabinets weren’t always faced
with mechanical problems.

The question is, if you’ve got a
machine that looks like this, is it a Sanders
game? Until the publication of this guide
many of these counter games were listed
as ‘““Mystery Machines,” meaning that their
manufacturer was unknown. It’s easy to
see why. There isn’t a visible mark on
them. Sanders did such a large amount of
private label work and sold such large
quantities to operators who would rather
have their own name on the machine

[Te first Sanders LITTLE POKER

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Sanders

reward card rather than that of any manu-
facturer, the J.M. Sanders Manufacturing
Company never put their own name on
any of these machines. But don’t worry;
it’s easy to find out. The aluminum cabi-
nets were cast in a foundry that did a lot of
coin machine work, so in order to protect
their design and keep their production iso-
lated Sanders marked their patterns. You
can spot the “JMS” on the inside of the
cabinet casting in a flash.

* ey.

Sanders LITTLE POKER FACE No.2. Photography by Dick Bueschel.

THE 100 MACHINES

Shipman
SPIN-IT

Produced between 1947 and 1960

Shipman SPIN IT. Bill Whelan Collection.

( Veet! yourself lucky that you ever
got the chance to know the identifi-
cation of this machine. It’s the kind

of counter game that a lot of people don’t

care about but that counter game buffs
adore. It’s different! So different, in fact,
there’s just no comparison or competitive
machine. Therefore, it stands alone.

By standing alone it possesses some
problems. Who and when? Also, if

you’re really interested, what? It’s only
because we have auctions and because the
really dedicated counter game buffs want
to identify everything they come across
that it was ever identified and dated at all.
To that mix of circumstance you’ve got to
add a third, and that’s the dig. Someone
had to be interested enough to take the
time and spend the money to track this lit-
tle devil down. Without that these El

157

Cheapo combination venders and chance
machines would have floated in limbo for
years until the critical mix of visibility,
curiosity and the willingness to dig sur-
faced again at a given point of time in the
future.

One of these small machines showed
up at an auction at Disneyland in Califor-
nia in November 1978. It was filled with
gumballs and its graphics were all but
worn off. Counter game collector Bill
Whelan and author Dick Bueschel were
touring the floor prior to auction time and
both flashed on the game. Whelan said,
“The gumballs are wrong; it should be
peanuts.” Bueschel asked, “How in the
hell did you know that?” Whelan
answered, “I’ve got one, and it had some
dirty old peanuts stuck in it.” Bueschel
came back with, “So what is it?” Whelan
answered, “I don’t know, but I think it has
a name on it.” And Bueschel replied, “Get
that name for me and I’ll see what I can
find out.”

Whelan’s machine carried a paste-on
panel that says “SPIN-IT/1¢/Shipman
Mfg. Co., Los Angeles” over the glass in
the vending window below the single hori-
zontal reel that spins as a chance device
when the plunger over the coin chute is
depressed. The original paper below that
says “Push plunger down/Pull slide all the
way out for nuts.” Then he found another,
a 5¢ version for almonds, shown here. So
nuts it is. But that’s about all you can tell
at that stage, and without an approximate
date, there’s no way short of a day of labor
that you can pin it down by going through
all of the old Los Angeles directories.
Looks alone don’t do it as the Shipman
SPIN-IT is so different it can be any time
in the late thirties or forties, or even a
post-war into the fifties.

So the author took another route, and
assuming the machine was exhibited at the
coin machine shows, checked all the
exhibitors year by year. Luck and pluck
came through. The 1937 convention lists
carried reference of a Shipman Manufac-
turing Company of 2513-18 S. LaSalle
Avenue, represented by A.V. Shipman,
owner, that made “candy and peanut
machines, candy racks, cigarette machines,
Duplex sanitary postage stamp machine,
5-cent Hersey bar machines (and) mer-
chandise vending machines.” The location
was “L.A.” Finally, old advertising in
Billboard and The Coin Machine Journal
dated the machines from 1947 to the
1960s, penny play for peanuts and nickel
play for almonds. So now Shipman is part
of our knowledge pool.

158

back on the market after World War II

doesn’t mean it was the same machine,
or even made by the same manufacturer.
The Bradley 7-GRAND doubly proves the
point.

Go back to the Withey SEVEN
GRAND of 1938 a dozen or so pages
back and you’ll be looking at practically
the same machine. Not exactly, but close.
Both the Withey game and the Bradley
machine are squared off and boxy, with a
plain stamped disc hub, although some
details differ. But once you’re past those
superficialities you’ve got the same game,
be it SEVEN GRAND or 7-GRAND. In
fact, even the reward cards are inter-
changeable.

Here’s how it came about. Chicagoan
Bert Withey had a big thing going with his
large counter dice games in the thirties,
but by the time he got around to making
coin machines to add to his punch board
line, he was a pretty old guy and his time
was running out. The war wrapped that
up, and his literally one-man operation
didn’t come back on the scene once
“peacetime” came back — that’s what they
called it then; the opposite of “wartime” —
and the coin machine business came alive
again. In his stead a new Chicago outfit
came along called Bradley Industries,
Division Bradley Associates, Inc., drop-
ping an updated version of Withey’s
SEVEN GRAND on the market at the end
of 1947 and giving it a big splash at the
Coin Machine Industry Convention in Jan-
uary 1948. Bradley Industries took the
same track Withey had taken, calling their
new 7-GRAND “the Operators Counter
Game. Grand Operator Appeal. Grand
Location Appeal. Grand Player Appeal.”
Now ain’t that just grant! Here you have
one of the oldest forms of coin machines
in existence (Withey’s original was based
on a long defunct 1892 patent) coming
back for a new lease on life right in the
middle of the Twentieth Century.

Its homage to the past was even
greater than that. One collector, checking
under the reward card frame of his Bradley
7-GRAND, found six more reward cards.
Half of them were for the 7-GRAND,
identified as made by “Bradley Associates,
Chicago, Illinois,” while the other half
were for the SEVEN GRAND with no
manufacturer’s name, quite obviously
original Withey cards. The machines can’t
get much closer to each other than that.

The Bradley 7-GRAND plays on a
nickel, dime or quarter. The machine
name comes from its scoring. Three sixes
wins 2, four of a kind 3, five of a kind 6,

i ust because a trade stimulator came

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Bradley
7-GRAND

Produced between 1947 and 1949

’ A nae oc SRE ps
vom

six of the same thing 50 and seven of any
kind wins 100. 2 what? 100 what? The
card doesn’t say. That’s what made it
such an “operators counter game.” It
could be points, trade payoffs or cash,
whatever the operator and location agreed
upon, in spite of the fact the card states
“For Amusement Only.”

= Oe ee fy
ea 52 aR

Bradley 7-GRAND. Bill Whelan Collection.

you’re looking at is virtually the last

generation of coin operated counter
games and trade stimulators. This is liter-
ally the end of the line. Sure, others came
afterward, and to this day you can still find
bars that have mechanical games you can
play for a “free” drink or a round on the
house, but more often than not they’re not
coin operated. But sometimes ... well,
you ll soon find out.

This is literally the machine that
closed the door on the trade stimulator, yet
it’s an old idea. It really goes back to the
National Coin Machine Exchange HAZ-
ARD of 1934 briefly described in the first
volume of Illustrated Guide to 100 Col-
lectible Trade Stimulators and the many
small counter dicers made by Kalamazoo
Automatic, Camco Products and others for
years afterward. After World War 2 the

To a good look at HORSES! What

THE 100 MACHINES

Quality Supply
HORSES

Produced between 1949 and 1951

original makers were out of the field, but
then the game came back in a virtually
identical format in 1949 made by an outfit
called the Quality Supply Company in the
unlikely city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

An even more unlikely circumstance
is the fact that Art Penticoff, the founder
and sole proprietor of the Quality supply
Company, had been a guard at the South
Dakota Penitentiary before he went into
the coin machine manufacturing business.
His idea was simple and clever. He didn’t
just sell a machine called HORSES (the
line leader) as the buyer got eight
machines for the price of one. When you
bought HORSES you got eight different
reward cards and the necessary dice to
match. He called the whole package “The
Eight-In-One-Game.” Number one on the
list was HORSES. According to the
maker, “This combination, on most loca-

tions, is the best money-maker. Leave it
on the bar or counter and watch them play
each other for the drinks, or ‘double or
nothing’ with the house, and when that
‘Two-Bits’-a-Corner’ games gets started,
the pennies go into this game as fast as it
can be worked. The profit is 100% and
the locations are well satisfied with 30% to
50%.”

Nice way to make money, that! Fact
is, it was so good it’s still good. Of all the
trade stimulators ever made, it’s the Quali-
ty Supply machines that you’ll still see on
location when you get off the main drag
and into the back country bars across the
country.

There’s still a market in these
machines, and the ones that show up in
collections and at auctions are just likely
to have come out of a bar the weeks before
as not. If you’re really lucky, you’ll find
one with all of its cards and dice. If you
do, here’s the eight games you’ll have:
HORSES, HI-HAND, FOUR OF A
KIND, ADD ‘EM, WIN YOUR
SMOKES, BEAT THE HOUSE, WIN A
BEER and HI-LOW SEVEN.

160

ulator and counter games finally

became once shopping habits, jaded
players and the law of the land conspired
to eliminate the classic coin operated flat
out chance devices in favor of mind
teasers. Sure, there’s a place for love quo-
tient ratings, computer quizzes and IQ
testers if you’re into that sort of thing. But
the true counter game buff wants a
machine that sets up a win or lose situa-
tion, with a real and tangible award for the
win.

The Play-Write PLAY-WRITE is the
bridge between the two. It looks a lot like
a gambling machine and even has a play
handle that looks like it was taken off of a
Mills payout slot. But the similarities end
right there. The PLAY-WRITE isn’t even
coin operated! The whole idea is a throw-
back to the days of three-quarters of a cen-
tury earlier when amusement machines
were operated by paying the barkeep a
nickel in the hand for permission to play
the game.

The Play-Write Sales Company was
set up in Wadsworth, Ohio, in 1949 in
order to make and market this large
machine out of Akron. And it’s large! It’s
almost as heavy as a full-size slot, and it
looks great in its all dural finish. When it
was introduced for the first time at the
American Coin Machine Manufacturers
Association Show in Chicago in May
1950, the makers said “We predict the
PLAY-WRITE will be the most outstand-
ing, interesting and profit-making machine
of the coin show.” After the show, the fol-
low-up blurb stated “At the recent
ACMMA Convention in Chicago every-
one was looking for an entirely new type
of machine, and the PLAY-WRITE filled
the bill.”

That was strong talk coming in a year
when everything was closing in on the
coin machine industry. The free and easy
days of the thirties gave way to the frantic
and frenetically illegal days of the forties
to lead to the criminal view of coin operat-
ed chance machines in the fifties. So
when the PLAY-WRITE offered a
machine that (quoting from its literature)
“can be operated in almost any territory
(we estimate 95%)” and “can be operated
in any kind of location, from a small gas
station to the finest clubs in the country” it
had to sound interesting.

Nothing in the PLAY-WRITE litera-
ture ever mentioned a coin, although it did
say “The PLAY-WRITE may be operated
in any country with any type of
exchange,” adding “The PLAY-WRITE
can be operated from 1¢ per play to any

[= truly sad to see what the trade stim-

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Play-Write
PLAY-WRITE

Produced between 1950 and 1951

Play-Write PLAY-WRITE. Photography by Dick Bueschel.

amount the player desires.” PLAY-
WRITE also has “popular slot reel pull
action” and is “100% fool proof (because)
your location automatically accounts for
the exact intake (and) each individual play
and winner.” Of course it did, on adding
machine tape; that’s the “write” part of the
PLAY-WRITE.

THE 100 MACHINES

161

Machine Identification and Insurance Protection

Trade stimulators, counter games and
any coin operated slot, vending or arcade
machine (whether you have one or a hun-
dred) are valuable antiques. A quick
browse through the prices on the pages of
this volume and its companion price
guides will back that up in a flash. There
are, in fact, few classes of antiques that
rival their worth, and the few that there are
(such as jewelry, silver, coins, Tiffany
glass and automobiles) are virtually all
insured by their owners against loss. The
idea of insuring coin machines is fairly
new, with only a few of the more advanced
collectors undertaking this task and
expense in the past. The boom in coin
machine collecting has changed all that,
with law enforcement “busts,” fire, dam-
age and out and out theft threatening the
integrity of more and more collections.

If an antique is valuable to you, it
should be insured for its value.

Furthermore, if you insure your
machines, you will want to be sure that
your specific machines are the ones that
are insured, not just generic machines of
the same type. In case of loss, insurance
companies are primarily interested in
replacement value. They’re even willing
to go out and find a machine for you if
they can produce one at less cost than the
insured value. The result might put you in
the ackward position of being forced to
accept a lesser machine of the same type.
Even worse, you might find yourself bid-
ding for a replacement machine which is
now selling at a higher price than your
insured evaluation, and it might even be
the same machine you once owned, show-
ing up on the antique market after a theft.
The only way to protect yourself against
these eventualities is to clearly describe
your insured machines right down to the
serial numbers. That gives you a positive
position in any later negotiation with an
insurance company. It also gives you and
the insurance company an opportunity to
reclaim any stolen machine, for the serial
number is a clear indication of origin. In
short, if the machine you have identified
by its serial shows up anywhere, the police
are on your side.

Most trade stimulators and slot
machines have serial numbers. The usual
placement is as a die stamp somewhere on
the outside of the cabinet, more often than
not on the back or the bottom of the base
(Note: The section of this book dealing
with trade stimulator and counter game
serial numbers will be useful to you here.).
Sometimes the serial will appear inside of
the cabinet, and sometimes can’t be found
at all. But be careful not to pick up a part
number instead of a serial number —
they’re different. Part numbers appear on
most machine parts, particularly cabinet

parts. They were used by assemblers to
put the machines together, and by manu-
facturers for inventory control. Typical
part numbers for a counter game -— in this
instance the Groetchen POK-O-REEL
TRIPLEX of 1934 -— are POK-1, POK-?2,
POK-16, etc. Careful scrutiny of a
machine case will soon reveal the differ-
ence, and if you’re looking inside of a cab-
inet , use a flashlight. It makes the num-
bers stand out better, and they’re easier to
find in a circle of light. If you can’t find a
serial number, use anything, even a part
number, it’s better than nothing.

Getting insurance on your machines
isn’t tough. You probably already have an
insurance agent, so call the agent in. Some
are hip to antiques; most aren’t. They may
give you some Static, but you can break
through that by providing them with com-
plete written or typewritten descriptions
and appraisals of value so they have some-
thing in hand to take to the home office.

Toss in a photograph of the machine or
machines being insured and you’ve done a
complete job and should have little or no
trouble getting the coverage you desire.

Two points are key here:

1. Provide your agent with a good
description of each machine.

2. Provide the agent with justifiable
appraisals.

When working out this documentation
go beyond the minimum of a name, date
and serial number. Some description of
how the machine works is helpful, as well
as its function and form. It’s also a good
idea to provide some indication of rarity if
you know it. If you use the services of
professional antique appraisers they’ ll pro-
vide the data you need and a value that can
be confirmed, even if only by the apprais-
ers. But be sure you get someone who
knows coin machines, and there aren’t
many of those around. Another alternative
is to use this or similar books, using the

Automatic Pianos
Slot Machines

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THE MARP PLANO (Actemsaiic Electric)

Operators placed trade stimulators and music on location through advertising and per-

sonal calls.

This operator ad appeared in the July 27, 1907 issue of The Champion of

Fair Play, an anti-prohibition trade publication reaching saloon owners. The trade stim-
ulators illustrated are the Caille Bros. GOOD LUCK and ROYAL JUMBO card

machines. Author’s Collection.

162 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

pricing as a value guide. Attaching an
electrostatic copy of the pertinent page can
serve as your “appraiser.”

As for the form to follow, more often
than not your insurance agent will leave
that up to you. The three sidebar forms
shown here do the job very well and have
the advantage of having already been
accepted by all of the insurance companies
to which they have been offered as defini-
tions of coin machine antiques and as
appraisals. Copy them. But be sure to put
in the correct data for your machines and
their current market value. Any other
basis, such as the purchase price of your
machines or current market values, can
also be used, but if they aren’t backed up
by a qualified appraiser or a printed docu-
ment or book such as this or its companion
Volume 1, be ready to defend your
appraisal because the insurance company
just might not go for it.

Lost Machine: there’s even a missing Fey machine from the
1930s called ROLL ‘EM. This picture was found in the effects of
a Los Angeles operator in the late 1960s with some of the photos
rubber stamped “Chas. Fey Mfg. Co., 1885 Mission St., San
Francisco, Calif” on the back. Old Automatic Age ads show it
was being sold in 1934 and 1935. There should be some of these
machines out there somewhere. Author’s Collection.

The Sky Scraper

Nickel machine: the 5 sets of wheels revolve at the same
time. You pay rewards in trade checks, cigars or merchandise.

Lost Machine: no examples of the Leo Canda Company
SKYSCRAPER of January 1900 have ever been found. One was
reportedly found some years back, but it was a hoax. This is from
an advertising flyer of around 1920 when a dealer was selling off

THE 100 MACHINES 163

Sheet No. 1

Definition of collectible coin machine antiques

Antique Gambling/Trade Stimulator Machines

Appraisal For: (your name here)

Appraisal Source: Jllustrated Guide to 100 Collectible Trade Stimulators, (Vol. 1, 1978, Vol. 2, 1980, or updated- versions)

Antique Nature of Gambling Machines

¢ Commercially viable coin operated chance machines were first introduced in the U.S. during the last decade of the 19th Century.
They were generally made in small quantities, and therefore are unique and tend to be rare.

¢ The earliest machines were often ornate and fragile. Compared to later machines, they were inefficient and especially liable to
malfunction.

¢ Many of the earliest machines pioneered mechanical procedures still in use today. Most notable is the sensing arrangement that
determines a winner and makes the payoff.

¢ Later machines also had their share of failures. In an effort to satisfy current “fads,’’ machines were often made that were too
complex or fragile to be successful. These innovative mechanical devices of the 1920s and 1930s and earlier have become the
eminently collectible machines of today.

¢ Several fairly recent legal rulings have declared that coin operated gambling machines can be considered collectors items,
provided:

1. The are too old, fragile or ornate to be used commercially as gambling devices.

2. They are acquired, owned or sold for their collectible value only.

3. They are not actively used for gambling purposes.

Due to the comparative rarity of such machines, many of the coin operated gambling machines are now regarded as unique
Americana and are treasured links to America’s industrial, mechanical and marketing past.

Machine Appraisal No. 1
Antique Gambling/Trade Stimulator Machines Appraisal For:
(your name here)
Appraisal Source:
(indicate publication)
Machine Description
e Name Decatur 5¢ FAIREST WHEEL No. 2, Serial No. (fill in)
¢ Description: | Countertop Trade Stimulator approximately 25” in diameter, in a stained wood frame with visible coin box at
bottom. All metal parts nickel plated. Coin chute at top permits player to drop in a nickel, with the weight of the
coin spinning the wheel, which comes to a chance stop, indicating that the player gets 1, 2 or 3 cigars for the coin
played. The device was originally patented May 7, 1895.
¢ Condition: Restored
¢ Manufacturer: Decatur Fairest Wheel Works, Decatur, IL
¢ Approx. date of Manufacture: 1897-1901
e Rarity: The FAIREST WHEEL Machine is regarded as a trade stimulator “classic” and is highly collectible.
¢ Estimated Value: $850

Machine Appraisal No. 2
Antique Gambling/Trade Stimulator Machines Appraisal For:
(your name here)
Appraisal Source:
(indicate publication)
Machine Description
e Name: Groetchen 1¢-25¢ HIGH STAKES Counter Game, Serial No. (fill in)
¢ Description: | Countertop chance gumball vending machine is cast aluminum “Churchill” cabinet approx. 14” high. Has 5 spin-
ning reels with horse symbols on 3 reels, odds display on 4th reel and win/place/show on Sth reel. Player inserts
coin in cabinet and pulls side lever which permits reels to come to a 1-2-3-4-5 chance stop in sequence. The
machine retains the coin. Purpose of the play is to match the horse colors for a “prize.”” The Groetchen HIGH
STAKES is unique as the only all-mechanical machine to utilize this play principle. A gumball is dispensed with
each play.
¢ Condition: Original and Mint
¢ Manufacturer: Groetchen Tool Company, Chicago, IL
¢ Approx. date of Manufacture: 1936-1937
¢ Rarity: The Groetchen HIGH STAKES is regarded as one of the most attractive counter game collectibles from the
1930s.
¢ Estimated Value: $300

164

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Part of author Dick Bueschel’s trade stimulator collection in his

Collector-dealer Larry Lubliner, the original pricing authority
1981 Chicago ad agency office.

for the 1981 edition of this guide, in his Highland Park, Illinois,
office at the time.

gl-lil |:
mi RE
CAR
Hen on

elililals
| 7S

Publisher Bill Harris in the offices of Coin Slot Books circa 1981.

THE 100 MACHINES

Typical Trade Stimulators and Counter Game Serials

Machine Name Coinage Date Serial No.
Clawson:
AUTOMATIC DICE S5¢ 1890 1158
AUTOMATIC FORTUNE TELLER S¢ 1892 527%
Griswold:
WHEEL OF FORTUNE 5¢ 1896 3682
WHEEL OF FORTUNE 5¢ 1899 16286
WHEEL OF FORTUNE S¢ 1904 037899
Mills:
LITTLE DUKE S¢ 1902 1357
JOCKEY S¢ 1902 1780
JOCKEY S¢ 1902 1781
JOCKEY S¢ 1916 7698
JOCKEY S¢ 1926 88020
PURITAN BELL S¢ 1926 151
PURITAN BELL S¢ 1926 1121
PURITAN BELL S¢ 1926 1865
PURITAN BELL S¢ 1927 2866
PURITAN BELL 25¢ 1927 4202
PURITAN BELL S¢ 1928 5929
PURITAN BELL S¢ 1929 6073
BELL BOY 1¢/25¢ 1931 510
Caille Bros:
BANKER l¢ 1906 138
GOOD LUCK l¢ 1906 [311
GOOD LUCK l¢ 1906 1852
PURITAN 5¢ 1912 eR
PURITAN 5¢ 1914 Tid
CHECK PAY PURITAN S5¢ 1916 8368
JUNIOR BELL l¢ 1926 1059
JUNIOR BELL l¢ 1926 1253
A.J. Stephens
MAGIC BEER BARREL 5¢ 1933 1544
Superior Confection:
CIGARETTE GUM VENDER l¢ 1935 5090
CIGARETTE GUM VENDER l¢ 1935 C5324
CIGARETTE GUM VENDER l¢ 1935 C5600
CIGARETTE GUM VENDER l¢ 1935 C6725
Groetchen:
TAVERN S¢ 1934 342
SPARKS 1¢/25¢ 1938 SP502
ROTO-MATCH 5¢ 1935 1264
Daval:
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE 1¢/25¢ C102
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE 1¢/25¢ 1934 C1387
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE 1¢/25¢ C4140
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE 1¢/25¢ C4262
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE 1¢/25¢ C4381
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE 1¢/25¢ C5300
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE 1¢/25¢ C5487
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE 1¢/25¢ 1933 C6298
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE 1¢/25¢ C6755
CHICAGO CLUB HOUSE 1¢/25¢ C8653
TIC-TAT-TOE l¢ 1936 1156
REEL 21 1¢/25¢ 1938 197
Rock-Ola:
OFFICIAL SWEEPSTAKES l¢ 1936 9196
Jennings:
PURITAN GIRL S¢ 1928 768
LITTLE MERCHANT l¢ 1938 Zo21

166

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Popular Trade Stimulators produced between 1870 and 1919

Trade Stimulator manufacturers are listed in alphabetical order and location with their machines listed in chronological order
as they appeared. Many of these machines had a long manufacturing and service life with their production and usage dates often

extending considerably beyond their introduction dates.

United States Trade Stimulators

Manufacturer and Location

Format Name Date
Bernard Abel And Company, New York, New York
Dice SQUARE DEAL April
Acme Novelty Works, Detroit, Michigan
Roulette ROULETTE
Acme Sales Company
Dice ACME
Albany Novelty Works, Albany, New York
Wheel (UNKNOWN) December
Pointer (UNKNOWN) October
The All-In-One Company, St. Louis, Missouri
Multiple Game ALL-IN-ONE
Almy Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Drop Cards AUTOMATIC CASHIER AND DISCOUNT MACHINE March
American Automatic Machine Company, New York, New York
Roulette AUTOMATIC ROULETTE
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE January
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKING MACHINE
Roulette IMPROVED AUTOMATIC ROULETTE
American Mechanical Toy Company, New York, New York
Race Game (UNKNOWN)
American Novelty Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Card Reels SUCCESS
American Specialty Manufacturing Company, Buffalo, New York
Card Reels SUCCESS
American Supply Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Amusement Machine Company, Jersey City, New Jersey
Race Game (UNKNOWN) October
Card Reels CARD MACHINE April
Amusement Machine Company, New York, New York
Card Reels CARD MACHINE “Tron Card” December
Number Reels POLICY
Card Reels BABY CARD MACHINE
Card Reels COUNTER IRON CARD
Card Reels STANDARD “Tron Card”
Card Reels COUNTER CARD “Two Hand”
Card Reels CARD MACHINE “Two Hand”
Card Reels SUCCESS “Tron Card”
Pointer ARROW
Pinfield COMBINATION JACK POT
Amusement Machine Company, Oakland, California
(Unknown) BASEBALL
A. H. Andrews And Company, Chicago, Illinois
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) January
The Anthony (Cigar) Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Pointer ECLIPSE
Anthony And Smith, Cincinnati, Ohio
Pointer ECLIPSE
Aspin And Furry, Wilmington, Delaware
Shooter O-TO-GO
Atlas Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Roulette ROULETTE
Atlas Novelty Company, Oakland, California
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Atlas Novelty Company, San Francisco, California
Card Reels (UNKNOWN)

Dice (UNKNOWN)

1893
1891
1905

1893
1899

1914
1915
1892
1893
1893
1894
1888
1894
1896
1907

1889
1890

1890
1891
1891
1891
1891
1891
1891
1891
1892
1893

1915
1890
1892
1893
1898
1895
1908

1907
1908

THE 100 MACHINES

Manufacturer and Location
Format Name

August Grocery Company, Richmond, Virginia

Wheel HOO DOO
Auto-Vender Company, Chicago, Illinois
Wheels DANDY VENDER
Wheels IMPROVED DANDY
Automatic Cash Discount Register Company, Chicago, Illinois
Pointer THE PROFIT SHARER (non-coin)
Automatic Coin Device Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Automatic Machine Company, New York, New York
Drop Cards EMPIRE
Drop Cards AUTOMATIC POKER PLAYER
Automatic Machine And Tool Company, Chicago, Illinois
Card Reels SUCCESS
Card Reels JUMBO SUCCESS
Card Reels JOCKEY
Card Reels JOCKEY CABINET
Card Reels MUSICAL JOCKEY
Automatic Manufacturing Company, New York, New York
Dice POPE DICE MACHINE
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKING MACHINE
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE
Automatic Novelty Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dice (UNKNOWN)
Automatic Novelty Company, Kansas City, Missouri
Dice (UNKNOWN)
Automatic Novelty Company, New York, New York
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Automatic Novelty Machine Company, New York, New York
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE
Automatic Trading Company, New York, New York
Coin Drop AUTOMATIC TRADER
Automatic Vending Machine Company, New York, New York
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Louis Badaracco, San Francisco, California
Drop Card (UNKNOWN)
F. H. Baldie, Seattle, Washington
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Baltimore Vending Machine Company, Baltimore, Maryland
Dice AUTOMATIC SHOW CASE
Monroe Barnes Manufacturer, Bloomington, Illinois
Wheel FAIREST WHEEL (Later renamed due to lawsuit)
Wheel BONUS WHEEL
Wheel CRESCENT (CIGAR WHEEL)
Barr And Company, Chicago, Illinois
Roulette (UNKNOWN)
W.R. Bartley, Butte, Montana
Card Reels SUCCESS
Bartley And McFarland, Seattle, Washington
Card Reels SUCCESS
Baxter And Ellis, Cincinnati, Ohio
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Bay City Novelty Company, Bay City, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Baynard Novelty And Machine Works, Denver, Colorado
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Henry A. Behn, Union Hill (Union City), New Jersey
Race Game (UNKNOWN)
Belk, Schafer And Company, Alton, Illinois
Cigar Vender HUMMER (CIGAR SELLER)
Jonas D. Bell And Company, Chicago, Illinois
Number Reel NICKELSCOPE
Number Reel PENNYSCOPE
Number Reel HOW IS YOUR LUCK
Number Reel (WRIGLEY) TRY YOUR LUCK
Number Reel WRIGLEY’S SLOT MACHINE

Pinfield — (WRIGLEY’S) DEWEY

Date

April

April
November

February
January

June

June
July

April
April

April

May
October

January
January

1901

1911
1911

1902
1914

1888
1889

1901
1901
1901
1901
1901
1892
1892
1893
1893
1905
1907
1888
1908
1900
1905
1903
1895
1895
1897
1897
1906
1904
1903
1904
1897
1900
1889
1896
1897
1897
1898
1899

1899
1899

167

168

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Manufacturer and Location

Dice
Bell Flip
Dice
Dice

Pinfield
Pinfield

Pinfield

Wheel
Wheel
Dice
Dice
Spinner
Wheel
Pinfield

Dice

Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Wheel
Wheel

Format Name
Number Reel VICTORY TRADE MACHINE
Bell Fruit Vending Company, Streater, Illinois
(Unknown) COIN-GETTER
Bennett And Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Wheel STAR GREEN (H. Vantongeren)
Wheel STUCKEY CIGAR
Paul E. Berger Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Card Reels SUCCESS
Card Reels JUMBO SUCCESS
Roulette MONTE CARLO
Card Reels PERFECTION CARD
Best Novelty Company, Hartford, Connecticut
Coin Drop WIZARD
Beyer And Company, Seattle, Washington
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Charles C. Bishop And Company, St. Louis, Missouri
Dice THE TRIOGRAPH
Frederick W. Bishop, Los Angeles, California
Coin Drop TEN POCKET
Coin Drop NINE POCKET

Boardman Rubber Stamp Works, Toledo, Ohio

SLOT DICE

Issac T. Bomar, Campbellsville, Kentucky

DOLL PITCH

W.A. Bradford Company, San Francisco, California

(UNKNOWN)

Bradford Novelty Machine Company, San Francisco, California

THE LARK

Bradford Novelty Company, Providence, Rhode Island

LITTLE GEM FORTUNE TELLER
LITTLE GEM

Charles A. Breyfogle, Allentown, Pennsylvania

(UNKNOWN)

Brunhoff Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio

FIVE CIGARS

AUTOMATIC VOTE RECORDER AND CIGAR SELLER
CRAZY

CIGAR CUTTER

SPINNING TOP

SLOTLESS (CIGAR CUTTER) (non-coin)

DAISY (“Hump Back’’)

Bryant Pattern And Novelty Company, Detroit, Michigan

Wheel (UNKNOWN)
L.H. Buchanan And Company, Pasadena, California
Pinfield THE PYRAMID
Bucyrus Manufacturing Company, Bucyrus, Ohio
Dice DICE BOX
Dice ELECTRIC DICE
Dice ECLIPSE
Dice RIVAL
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKER

Herbert H. Buxbaum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

(UNKNOWN)

The Caille Brothers Company, Detroit, Michigan

BUSY BEE NO.1
BUSY BEE NO.2

BUSY BEE NO.3

BUSY BEE NO.4

BUSY BEE NO.5

SUCCESS

COUNTER SUCCESS

JUMBO SUCCESS

ROYAL JUMBO
PERFECTION

QUINTETTE

SEARCHLIGHT

(TRADE OR CASH) SEARCHLIGHT

Date

December

November

July

November

March

January

April
April
November

May

February

October
October
October

June

July
July
July
July

April
April

1903
1913

1900
1900

1899
1899
1899
1901

1904
1901
1889

1893
1893

1892
1895
1901
1907

1913
1913

19i2

1898
1898
1898
1899
1899
1903
1907

1902
1892

1891
1891
1891
1892
1902

1893

1901
1901
1901
1901
1901
1901
1901
1901
1901
1901
1901
1902
1902

Manufacturer and Location

Format

Coin Drop
Wheels

Pop Cards
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Wheel

Wheel

Card Reels
Number Reels
Card Reels
Number Reels
Card Reels
Number Reels
Fruit Reels
Spot Reel
Spot Reel
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Number Reels
Number Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Drop Cards
Drop Cards
Number Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Drop Cards
Spot Reel
Novelty Reel
Spot Reel
Number Reels
Dice

Number Reels
Number Reels
Card Reels
Fruit Reels
Number Reels
Number Reels
Spot Reel
Novelty Reel
Spot Reel
Number Reels
Number Reels
Number Reels
Dice Reels
Number Reels
Spot Reels
Fruit Reels
Number Reels
Number Reels
Card Reels
Pinfield

Spot Reel
Spot Reel
Spot Reel
Baseball Reel
Novelty Reel
Pinfield

Spot Reel
Novelty Reel

THE 100 MACHINES

Name Date

SUNBURST

CALIFORNIA BEAR May
SENSATIONAL

HY-LO (COUNTER)

HY-LO

HY-LO GUM VENDER

WASP

WASP (COUNTER)

GOOD LUCK

GOOD LUCK (SWIVEL BASE)

GOOD LUCK SPECIAL

MERCHANT

ELK

IMPROVED AUTOMATIC CHECK PAYING CARD MACHINEJune
IMPROVED SUCCESS June
IMPROVED COUNTER SUCCESS June
IMPROVED JUMBO SUCCESS June
COUNTER JUMBO June
PURITAN

CLIPPER

JOCKEY

JOCKEY (CABINET)

BANKER

BANKER (SWIVEL BASE)

(PLAIN) BANKER

DRAW POKER

(COUNTER) DRAW POKER

GLOBE

(COUNTER) GLOBE

RELIANCE

SPECIAL (SPECIAL AUTOMATIC CHECK PAYING CARD MACHINE)
TIGER

TIGER

HIAWATHA

WINNER DICE

BON TON

BON TON SIDE VENDER

PILGRIM STYLE A

PILGRIM STYLE B

PILGRIM STYLE C

PILGRIM STYLE D

SPECIAL TIGER

SPECIAL TIGER GUM VENDER

NEW PURITAN

CHECK-PAY PURITAN

JUMBO PURITAN

MATADOR

LA WA-WO-NA

MAYFLOWER STYLE A

MAYFLOWER STYLE B

MAYFLOWER STYLE C

MAYFLOWER STYLE D

MAYFLOWER

LITTLE DREAM

IMPROVED SPECIAL TIGER

LE TIGRE (3-Way)

LE TIGRE (5-Way)

BASEBALL (‘The Tiger’)

CHECK BOY

INDIAN PIN POOL

NEW SPECIAL TIGER (Side Handle)

JEWEL May

1903
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1905
1905
1905
1905
1905
1905
1905
1905
1905
1905
1906
1906
1906
1906
1906
1906
1906
1906
1906
1906
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1909
1909
1909
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1911
1911
917

169

170 TRADE STIMULATORS 2
Manufacturer and Location
Format Name Date
Baseball Reel IMPROVED BASE-BALL
Novelty Reel COMET
Novelty Reel LE COMETE 3-WAY
Novelty Reel LE COMETE 5-WAY
Wheel MASCOT
Wheels DANDY GUM VENDER
Wheel LINCOLN (CIGARS)
Wheel LINCOLN (MONEY)
Wheel LINCOLN (TRADE)
Number Reel BIG STAR SIX
Caille-Richards Company, Union City, Michigan
Pinfield LITTLE WONDER
Movable Marker LION, JR.
Caille-Schiemer Company, Detroit, Michigan
Wheel THE BUSY BEE
California Machine Company, San Francisco, California
Drop Cards TUXEDO
Leo Canda Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Card Reels MODEL CARD MACHINE August
Card Reels NEW CARD MACHINE
Number Reels POLICY MACHINE
Dice Reels DICE MACHINE
Plunger TRADE VENDING MACHINE
Card Reels GIANT (CARD)
Card Reels GIANT COUNTER CARD
Number Reels GIANT POLICY
Number Reels COUNTER GIANT POLICY
Dice Reels GIANT DICE
Dice Reels COUNTER GIANT DICE
Pointer GIANT ARROW
Pointer COUNTER GIANT ARROW
Pinfield THE EAGLE
Card Reels NEW CARD MACHINE
Number Reels NEW POLICY MACHINE
Dice Reels NEW DICE MACHINE
Card Reels BONANZA
Card Reels SUCCESS CARD MACHINE
Card Reels SUCCESS
Card Reels COUNTER SUCCESS
Pinfield THE TOWER
Number Reels FIGARO January
Card Reels ACME
Card Reels EXCELSIOR
Card Reels CHECK EXCELSIOR
Card Reels COUNTER EXCELSIOR
Card Reels COUNTER CHECK EXCELSIOR
Roulette IMPROVED ROULETTE
Drop Cards THE SHUFFLER
Card Reels SUCCESS
Card Reels COUNTER SUCCESS
Card Reels PERFECTION CARD
Number Reels PERFECTION FIGARO
Card Reels JUMBO SUCCESS
Card Reels COUNTER JUMBO SUCCESS
Card Reels UPRIGHT CARD MACHINE
Card Reels ROYAL CARD MACHINE
Card Reels COUNTER PERFECTION
Number Reels UPRIGHT FIGARO
Number Reels FIGARO CHECK
Number Reels UPRIGHT POLICY
Card Reels JUMBO
Card Reels CHECK JUMBO
Card Reels COUNTER JUMBO
Card Reels COUNTER CHECK JUMBO
Card Reels JUMBO GIANT
Card Reels CLOVERLEAF
Card Reels SKYSCRAPER January

1911
1911
1911
1911
1912
1912
1912
1912
[912
1912

1902
1902

1901
1906

1893
1893
1893
1893
1893
1894
1894
1894
1894
1894
1894
1894
1894
1894
1894
1894
1894
1895
1895
1896
1896
1896
1897
1897
1897
1897
1897
1897
1897
1897
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1899
1900

THE 100 MACHINES

Manufacturer and Location

Format Name Date
Card Reels CANDA CARD MACHINE January
Leo Canda Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Card Reels SUCCESS May
Card Reels JUMBO SUCCESS May
Card Reels LITTLE PERFECTION May
Card Reels UPRIGHT CARD
Number Reels FIGARO
Card Reels JUMBO
Card Reels COUNTER JUMBO
Card Reels JUMBO GIANT
Card Reels QUINTETTE
Card reels HAMILTON
Dice Reels DICE MACHINE
Card Reels CLOVER
Roulette ROULETTE
Card Reels AUTOMATIC CARD MACHINE
Cato Novelty Works, Lakeview, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Cawood Novelty Company, Danville, Illinois
Wheel PANAMA CANAL
Wheel PLAY BALL
Chicago Nickel Works, Chicago, Illinois
Race Game AUTOMATIC RACE TRACK
Cincinnati Automatic Machine Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Cincinnati Novelty Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Clark Novelty Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Clawson Machine Company, Newark, New Jersey
Coin Drop LIVELY CIGAR SELLER November
Wheel FAIREST WHEEL
Card Reels PERFECTION CARD
Card Reels SUCCESS
Card Reels JUMBO SUCCESS
Card Reels JUMBO
Card Reels JUMBO GIANT
Card Reels CLOVERLEAF (PINOCHLE SUCCESS)
Card Reels CARD MACHINE
Clawson Slot Machine Company, Newark, New Jersey
Dice DICE TOSSER No.1
Dice DICE TOSSER No.2
Dice HOO DOO CIGAR CUTTER
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE (SHAKER) August
Dice AUTOMATIC FORTUNE TELLER
Dice (COUNTER) AUTOMATIC FORTUNE TELLER
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKER
Dice (COUNTER) AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKER
Dice TRY YOUR LUCK
Dice TRY YOUR FORTUNE
Dice DICE MACHINE
Coin Drop FAIR-SELLING MACHINE September
Coin Drop PERFECT SELLING MACHINE
Coin Drop HAPPY THOUGHT
Dice AUTOMATIC SALESMAN June
Coin Drop LIVELY CIGAR SELLER June
Coin Drop HEADS AND TAILS October
Coin Drop LIVELY CIGAR SELLER No.2 October
Coin Drop TEN TO ONE December
Roulette THREE BALL April
Roulette ONE BALL August
Card Reels SUCCESS No.1
W. H. Clune Manufacturer, Los Angeles, California
Drop Cards VICTOR
Drop Cards COMMERCIAL
Coast Novelty Company, San Francisco, California
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)

1900

1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1903
1903
1903
1903
1903

1893

1913
ite a We.

1889
1895
1892
1889

1897
1898
1898
1899
1899
1899
1899
1899
1899

1889
1889
1889
1890
1890
1890
1890
1890
1891
1891
1892
1892
1892
1893
1893
1893
1893
1893
1893
1895
1895
1895

1900
1900

1903

171

172

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Manufacturer and Location
Format Name

Coin Auto company, Hammond, Indiana

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Colby Specialty Supply Company, Chicago, Illinois

Dice COMBINATION LUNG TESTER
Merriam Collins And Company, Decatur, Illinois

Roulette PEERLESS ADVERTISER (THE CODE)
Columbia Manufacturing Company, Rochester, New York

Card Reels SUCCESS
Columbia Novelty Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois

Punch 20TH CENTURY PROSPECTOR

Columbian Automatic Card Machine Company, New York, New York

Drop Cards AUTOMATIC CARD MACHINE
Columbian Automatic Machine Company, New York, New York
Drop Cards AUTOMATIC POKER PLAYER
Columbian Machine Company, New York, New York
Drop Cards POKER CARD MACHINE
Columbine Novelty Company, Denver, Colorado
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Comstock Novelty Works, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Pinfield THE PERFECTION
Pointer PERFECTION WHEEL
Condon And Company, Vinalhaven, Maine
Coin Drop GAME O’SKILL
Continental Novelty Manufacturing Company, Williamsville, New York
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Ralph B. Cooley, Brooklyn, New York
Pointer AUTOMATIC REGISTERING BANK
Henry A. Cordray, Brenham, Texas
Race Game (UNKNOWN)
J. Edward Cowles And Company, New York, New York
Pointer PILOT
Cowper Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Wheel THE MIDGET
Wheel MASCOT
Race Game MINIATURE RACE TRACK
Coin Drop NEW DROP CASE
Coin Drop DONKEY
Dice DICE MACHINE
(Unknown) FIRE EAGLE
Roulette WINNER ROULETTE
Card Reels PERFECTION CARD
Pointer STAR POINTER (non-coin)
Drop Cards DRAW POKER
Card Reels LITTLE DUKE
Number Reels PURITAN
Pinfield THE IDEAL
Card Reel THE ELK
Coyle And Rogers, Washington, District of Columbia
Dice ELECTRICAL DICE
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE
Dice AUTOMATIC ADVERTISER
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE VENDING MACHINE
Race Game AUTOMATIC RACE COURSE

Crooks And Crooks, San Francisco, California

Drop Cards 2-PLAYER POKER
Drop Cards 3-PLAYER POKER
John Henry Davis, Chicago, Illinois
Pointer THE DEWEY SALESMAN
Davis Novelty Company, Manistee, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Decatur Fairest Wheel Company, Decatur, Illinois
Wheel FAIREST WHEEL
Wheel DISCOUNT WHEEL
Wheel IMPROVED FAIREST WHEEL
Wheel IMPROVED DISCOUNT WHEEL

Decatur Fairest Wheel Works, Decatur, Illinois
Wheel | FAIREST WHEEL No.1

Date

April

February

December

October

January

December

September

September
October
October
April
January

October
April

May

December
February
January
January

1909
1892
1897
1900
1900
1898
1901
1901
1902

1897
1898

1903
1908
1891
1886
1899

1897
1897
1897
1897
1897
1897
1898
1898
1902
1902
1906
1906
1906
1906
1907

1888
1888
1888
1889
1890

1896
1897

1897
1897
1894
1895
1896
1896

1897

THE 100 MACHINES

Manufacturer and Location

Format Name Date

Wheel FAIREST WHEEL No.2 1897

Wheel FAIREST WHEEL No. 3 1899
Decatur Novelty Works, Decatur, Illinois

Wheel (UNKNOWN) 1896
George Deddens Distillery Company, Cincinnati, Ohio

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1908
Reinhold F. DeGrain, Washington, District of Columbia

Dice Reels (UNKNOWN) April 1890

Dice Reels (UNKNOWN) December 1892
Victor P. DeKnight, Washington, District of Columbia

Wheel (UNKNOWN) April 1894
William Dennings, National Military Home (Dayton), Ohio

Wheel GAME WHEEL February 1882

Wheel GAME WHEEL No.2 August 1885
Denver Novelty Works, Denver, Colorado

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1890
Detroit Brass And Iron Novelty Company, Detroit, Michigan

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1904
Detroit Coin Machine Company, Detroit, Michigan

Number Reels PURITAN March 1905
Detroit Manufacturing Novelty Company, Detroit, Michigan

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1895
Diamond Novelty Company, Syracuse, New York

Poker Reels PERFECTION CARD 1904
William Diebel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Wheels (UNKNOWN) May 1894
Charles L. Dobrick, New York, New York

Wheel (UNKNOWN) November 1891
Albert S. Drais, San Francisco, California

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1898
George Draper And Sons, Hopedale, Massachusetts

Wheels (UNKNOWN) January 1893
Drobisch Brothers And Company, Decatur, Illinois

Pinfield ADVERTISING REGISTER June 1896

Wheel BONUS WHEEL December 1896

Wheel VICTOR January 1897

Wheel (UNKNOWN) March 1897

Pointer STAR ADVERTISER March 1897

Dice No.5 MONARCH DICE MACHINE April 1897

Wheel (UNKNOWN) April 1897

Pointer THE LEADER 1897
Peter Drummer, Corning, New York

Dice (UNKNOWN) November 1890
David W. Dunn, Ashland, Kentucky

Wheels BICYCLE RIDER July 1915
Dunn Brothers, Anderson, Indiana

Marbles PERFECTION (Round Globe) 1905

Dice WRIGLEY DICE MACHINE 1905

Marbles PERFECTION (Straight Globe) 1906
Eagle Amusement Machine/E.A.M.

Dice EAGLE 1899
Eagle Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Michigan

Dice EAGLE 1892
Henry J. Eastman, San Francisco, California

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1905
Raphael E. Ebersole, Roanoke, Indiana

Pinfield DAISY July 1897
Eclipse Novelty Works, Denver, Colorado

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1904
William Edge, Orange, New Jersey

Dice (UNKNOWN) October 1892
Electrical Supply Company, Sacramento, california

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1904
Martin Elzas, Los Angeles, California

Dice (UNKNOWN) April 1907

Henry T. Emeis, Salt Lake City, Utah
Pinfield (UNKNOWN) September 1897

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Manufacturer and Location
Format Name Date

Ennis And Carr, Syracuse, New York

Dice PERFECTION
Erickson, Portland, Oregon
Dice LOG CABIN
Eureka Novelty Sales Company, Eureka, California
(Unknown) EUREKA
H. C. Evans And Company, Chicago, Illinois
Wheel STAR POINTER (non-coin) June
Race Game LITTLE BILLIKIN
Roulette CUBE ROULETTE
Race Game RACE TRACK
Excelsior Race Track Company, Chicago, Illinois
Race Game EXCELSIOR
A. Feinberg Company, Rochester, New York
Card Reels SUCCESS
Charles Fey And Company, San Francisco, California
Wheel SKILL MACHINE
Pointer THREE SPINDLE
Pointer KLONDIKE
Number Reels POLICY
Number Reels 4-11-44
Drop Cards PAYING TELLER
Card Reels THE DUKE
Drop Cards DRAW POKER
Card Reel ELK
Dice ON THE SQUARE
Dice ON THE LEVEL
Roulette SKILL ROLL
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE BOX
Roulette TRIPLE ROULETTE
A. J. Fisher And Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pinfield THE LEGAL
Pinfield (ORIGINAL) PREMIUM
Flour City, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Race Game AUTOMATIC RACE COURSE
O. H. Flower, Cincinnati, Ohio
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
J. L. Foley Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Drop Cards DRAW POKER
Fortune Machine Works, Chicago, Illinois
Coin Drop FORTUNE TELLER
Benjamin F. Fowler, Minneapolis, Minnesota
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) February
Richard K. Fox, New York, New York
Race Game FRENCH RACE GAME October
Race Game EXCELSIOR October
Dice IMPROVED DICE GAME April
Charles A. French, Boston, Massachusetts
Wheels (UNKNOWN) July
Friedman And Company, Chicago, Illinois
Pinfield SONG DICK
Charles J. Froeleich Novelty Company, Utica, New York
(Unknown) © (UNKNOWN)
J. H. Gasser, Webster, Massachusetts
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Gayton Novelty Company, Providence, Rhode Island
Pinfield (UNKNOWN)
G. R. Gibson, Denver, Colorado
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Gillet, Hunter And Company, Springfield, Illinois
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Gillet Novelty Company, Detroit, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Gisha Company, Anderson, Indiana
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)

Grand Rapids Novelty Manufacturing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)

1904
1898
1902
1903
1907
1907
iy
1890
1904
1895
1896
1897
1897
1897
1897
1899
1905
1905
1907
1907
1907
1907
1909

1908
1910

1889
1912
1906
1903
1901
1889
1889
1890
1894
1898
1891
1899
1906
1907
1887
1903
1912

1893

THE 100 MACHINES

Manufacturer and Location
Format Name Date

Grand Rapids Slot Machine Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Pointer ECLIPSE
Great Western Products Company, Kansas City, Missouri
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
M. O. Griswold And Company, Rock Island, Illinois
Dice DICE MACHINE
Card Reels CARD MACHINE
Wheel WHEEL OF FORTUNE October
Wheel BLACK CAT
Roulette ROULETTE
Wheel NEW IDEA
Wheel THE BIG THREE
Griswold Manufacturing Company, Rock Island, Illinois
Wheel STAR March
Wheel SELF PAY
Wheel NEW STAR
Grove Brothers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dice Reels POKER-DICE April
L. G. Grund, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Card Reels CARD MACHINE
Hamilton Manufacturing Company, Hamilton, Ohio
Card Reels SUCCESS
Card Reels THE HAMILTON
Card Reels COUNTER HAMILTON
Pinfield DAISY (“Diamond Top’)
Pinfield DAISY NO BLANK (“Bread Loaf Top’’)
Hammond And Jones, Baltimore, Maryland
Race Game HORSE RACE
Hawes, Butman And Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Race Game (UNKNOWN) March
Charles W. Heeg, St. Louis, Missouri
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
G. Henry And Company, Chicago, Illinois
Dice (UNKNOWN)
Homer A. Herr Mechanical Engineer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dice (UNKNOWN) June
Hiawatha Manufacturing Company
Number Reels HIAWATHA
Hillsboro Wooden Ware Company, Hillsboro, Ohio
Pinfield THE HILLSBORO
T. F. Holtz And Company, San Francisco, California
Card Reels BROWNIE
Card Reels CARD MACHINE
J. And E. Homan Machinists, New York, New York
Dice (UNKNOWN) October
Home Novelty Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Home Novelty Company Limited, Detroit, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Howard Novelty Company, Detroit, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Howard Novelty Company, St. Louis, Missouri
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) May
Hudson Moore Company, New York, New York
Race Game RACE
Dice POKER DICE July
Dice AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKING MACHINE
Card Reels AUTOMATIC POKER PLAYER
Roulette AUTOMATIC ROULETTE
Roulette IMPROVED AUTOMATIC ROULETTE
Card Reels PERFECTION
Card Reels UPRIGHT PERFECTION
Charles D. C. Huestis Manufacturer, Seattle, Washington
Pinfield COMSTOCK
Huffman Novelty Company, New Haven, Connecticut
Pinfield (UNKNOWN)

I Will Novelty Company, Chicago, Illinois

1894
1917
1892
1892
1893
1895
1899
1900
1901
1905
1916
e19
1893
1903
1902
1903
1903
1905
1907
1888
1876
1891
1895
1893
1907
1897

1896
1896

1893
1899
1907
1909
1I9i2
1889
1891
1892
1893
1893
1894
1894
1894
1898

1914

175

176

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Manufacturer and Location

Format Name
Dice I WILL
Ideal Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Ideal Toy Company, Chicago, Illinois
Drop Cards SAMPLE EXHIBITOR
Drop Cards CARD EXHIBITING MACHINE
Dice (UNKNOWN)
Drop Cards IMPROVED SAMPLE EXHIBITOR
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Illinois Axle Skein And Nut Lock company, Pana, Illinois
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Martin G. Imbach, Brooklyn, New York
Dice (UNKNOWN)
Imperial Manufacturing Company, Chester, Pennsylvania
Dice IMPERIAL
Dice IS IT ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS?
Industry Novelty Company, Chicago, Illinois
Pinfield PREMIUM TRADER
Pinfield SILENT SALESMAN
Shooter TARGET PRACTICE
Fruit Reels THE TRADER
Baseball Reel 1918 BASEBALL
LeGrand Ingersoll, Denver, Colorado
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
International Automatic Machine Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Pinfield (UNKNOWN)
Iowa Paper Company, Waterloo, Iowa
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Conrad Jackson Desk Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Wheel GAME O’SKILL
Jaeger Automatic Machine Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Harry S. Jarboe, Trenton, New Jersey
Pointer THE ADVERTISER
William C. Jones Machine Shop, Niantic, Illinois
Pointer AUTOMATIC TRADE CLOCK
Pointer AUTOMATIC WIZARD CLOCK
Jones Novelty Company, Rochester, New York
Card Reels JONES CARD MACHINE
Jones Novelty Company, Danville, Illinois
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Jorgensen Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Kalamazoo Shutter Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Keane Novelty Company, Chicago, Illinois
Dice SQUARE DEAL (non-coin)
Coin Drop CIGAR CUTER
Philip Keller, Springfield, Massachusetts
Dice (UNKNOWN)
Kelley Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Coin Drop FLIP FLAP
Wheels BICYCLE
Card Reels COUNTER PERFECTION

Number Reels THE KELLEY

Number Reels THE NEW IMPROVED KELLEY
Kellogg And Company, New York, New York
Pointer WHEEL OF FORTUNE (Horses)
Pointer WHEEL OF FORTUNE (Numbers)
Clarence M. Kemp, Baltimore, Maryland
Wheels VOTING MACHINE
Kennedy And Diss, Brooklyn, New York
Race Game AUTOMATIC RACE TRACK
Card Reels POKER SOLITAIRE
George Kern, Peru, Illinois
Pointer (UNKNOWN)

Pointer _ (UNKNOWN)

Date

April
April
May
October
April

June

September

February
September

May
April

November

October
April

March
June

1894
1889
1890
1890
189]
189]
1892
1906
1891

1898
1899

1918
1918
1918
1918
1918
1891
1892
1910
1902
1899
1901

1903
1904

1892
1919
1905
1902

1891
1892

1900

1901
1902
1903
1903
1905

1888
1888

1889

1889
1890

1916
1916

THE 100 MACHINES

Manufacturer and Location
Format Name Date

D. Kernan Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois

Drop Cards THE SHUFFLER 1897

Roulette IMPROVED ROULETTE 1897

Dice DICE SLOT MACHINE 1897

Wheel MIDGET December 1898

Card Reels SUCCESS 1901

Card Reels JUMBO SUCCESS 1901
Keystone Automatic Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1902
The Klondike Slot Machine Company, Cincinnati, Ohio

Pinfield THE KLONDIKE 1899
Klondyke Prospector Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois

Coin Drop KLONDYKE PROSPECTOR March 1900
Oscar G. Klugel, Indianapolis, Indiana

Dice (UNKNOWN) March 1892
Howard Knight, Trenton, New Jersey

Wheel (UNKNOWN) October 1892
Knight Novelty Company, Marblehead, Massachusetts

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1905
A. H. F. Kruse, Portland, Oregon

Drop Cards (UNKNOWN) 1904

Wheel (UNKNOWN) 1909

Pointer (UNKNOWN) 1914
LaBuff Manufacturing Company, Rochester, New York

Card Reels CARD MACHINE 1892
Latimer And Company, San Francisco, California

Shooter GAME O’SKILL July 1893

Shooter LITTLE HELPER 1896
Chas. Leonhardt, Jr. And Company, San Francisco, California

Drop Cards MONARCH CARD MACHINE 1894

Drop Cards IMPROVED MONARCH CARD MACHINE 1895

Coin Drop TWO FOR ONE SKILL 1895

Drop Cards DRAW POKER 1895
C. C. Letts And Company, Chicago, Illinois

Number Reels (UNKNOWN) 1901
William T. Lewis, Buffalo, New York

Dice (UNKNOWN) October 1892
Lewis Manufacturing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Race Game (UNKNOWN) 1889
Lewis And Strobel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Card Reels POKER SOLITAIRE February 1891

Number Reels 4 CARD February 1891
Liberty Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Kalamazoo, Michigan

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1901
C. R. Light And Company, San Francisco, California

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1901
James A. Lighthipe, San Francisco, California |

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1897
John Lighton Machine Company, Syracuse, New York

Dice DICE SHAKER 1892
Robert H. Little, Chicago, Illinois

Pinfield (UNKNOWN) May 1891
Little Casino Amusement Company, Rochester, New York

Card Reels SUCCESS 1894
Little Giant Manufacturing Company, New Haven, Connecticut

Coin Drop (UNKNOWN) 1887
Loheide Manufacturing Company, St. Louis, Missouri

Pointer WIZARD CLOCK | 1907
Ludington Novelty Works, Ludington, Michigan

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1897
Edwin J. Lumley, Washington, District of Columbia

Race Game HORSE RACE August 1889
Malcolm And Tratsch, Chicago, Illinois

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1916
Charles T. Maley Novelty Company, Cincinnati, Ohio

Dice AUTOMATIC DICE SHAKING SLOT MACHINE 1893

Card Reels MODEL CARD MACHINE 1893

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Manufacturer and Location

Format Name Date
Number Reels THE DART
Card Reels AUTOMATIC CARD MACHINE
Dice DICE MACHINE
Dice COMMON SENSED DICE MACHINE
Pinfield NICKEL TICKLER No.1
Pinfield NICKEL TICKLER No.2
Pinfield NICKEL TICKLER No.3
Pointer ECLIPSE
Pinfield PENNY TICKLER
Pointer DIAL
Pinfield CASHIER
Card Reels UPRIGHT PERFECTION
Card Reels PERFECTION CARD
Card Reels EXCELSIOR
Pointer TWO ARROW
Horace A. Manley And Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Wheel (UNKNOWN) August
Mansfield Brass Foundry, Mansfield, Ohio
Roulette ROULETTE
George E. Maple, Great Falls, Montana
Card Reels CARD MACHINE
Josiah T. Marean, Brooklyn, New York
Race Game RACE COURSE November
Marion Manufacturing company, Chicago, Illinois
Dice (UNKNOWN) October
George Mason And Company, Chicago, Illinois
Race Game MINIATURE RACE COURSE MACHINE
Mason Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Coin Drop (UNKNOWN) June
W. A. Mason, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Mascot Machine Company, Chicago, Illinois
Wheel THE MASCOT December
J.T. Mathews And Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Charles May, Cincinnati, Ohio
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
William McClellan, Danbury, Connecticut
Dice BOARD OF TRADE
McCusker Supply Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
William C. McDowell, Beaver, Pennsylvania
Pinfield (UNKNOWN) March
George C. McGovern, Richmond, Virginia
Race Game (UNKNOWN)
Edward S. McLoughlin, New York, New York
Pointer BANKER WHO PAYS
Pointer GUESSING BANK
Pointer DRINKS
Pointer PRETTY WAITER GIRL
W. Nichols McManus, New York, New York
Race Game RACE TRACK June
Race Game COUNTER RACE TRACK
Race Game IMPROVED RACE TRACK November
Race Game RACE TRACK February
Race Game COUNTER RACE TRACK February
Mead And Taylor, Detroit, Michigan
Wheel THE DEWEY
Menu Wheel Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Pointer MENU WHEEL October

Michigan Metal And Wood Novelty Works, Detroit, Michigan

(Unknown)

COLUMBIAN

Michigan Sales Company, Detroit, Michigan

(Unknown)

(UNKNOWN)

Milark Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois

Roulette

ROULETTE

1893
1893
1893
1893
1893
1893
1894
1894
1894
1894
1895
1897
1897
1897
1898
1893
1893
1893
1885
1891
1888
1899
1894
1894
1894
1895
1907
1906
1906
1895
1876
1878
1878
1880
1888
1888
1888
1889
1889
1900
1904
1893
1909

1903

Manufacturer and Location

Format

(Unknown)

Pinfield
Pinfield

Card Reels

Wheel
Coin Drop

Card Reels

Number Reels

Card Reels

Number Reels

Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Dice

Card Reels
Card Reels
Drop Cards
Drop Cards
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Coin Drop
Card Reels
Roulette
Pinfield
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Card Reels
Roulette
Roulette
Dice

Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Drop Cards
Drop Cards

THE 100 MACHINES

Name

H. L. Miles Novelty Works, Denver, Colorado

(UNKNOWN)

Miller Novelty Company, Chicago, Illinois

LITTLE DREAM
LITTLE DREAM PLAY BASEBALL

F. W. Mills Manufacturing Company, Hoboken, New Jersey

AUTOMATIC CARD MACHINE
LITTLE KLONDIKE
THE BOOSTER

F. W. Mills Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois

Novelty Reel PREMIUM TRADER
MBM Cigar Vending Machine Company, Chicago, Illinois
Pinfield HORSE SHOE
Mills Novelty Company, Chicago, Illinois
Roulette LITTLE MONTE CARLO
Card Reels PERFECTION CARD
Card Reels UPRIGHT PERFECTION CARD
Card Reels CHECK CARD
Number Reels CHECK FIGARO
Number Reels CHECK POLICY

JUMBO SUCCESS

SUCCESS

THE GIANT

THE JUMBO

COUNTER THE JUMBO

LITTLE DUKE

THE CHECK JUMBO

JUMBO SUCCESS No.2 (“Big Success’’)
SUCCESS No.3 (“Little Success’’)
JUMBO GIANT

I WILL

JOCKEY

JOCKEY CARD (“Cabinet Jockey’’)
YOU’RE NEXT (5-Way)

YOU’RE NEXT (4-Way)

UPRIGHT CARD MACHINE

CHECK UPRIGHT CARD MACHINE
SUCCESS No.4 (“Little Success’’)
JUMBO SUCCESS No.4 (“Big Success’’)
LITTLE KNOCKER

LITTLE PERFECTION (‘Round Top’’)
IMPROVED LITTLE MONTE CARLO
GAME O’SKILL

BEN FRANKLIN

UPRIGHT PERFECTION

CHECK UPRIGHT PERFECTION
SUCCESS No.5 (“Little Success’’)
JUMBO SUCCESS No.5 (“Big Success’)
SUCCESS No.6 (“Little Success’)
JUMBO SUCCESS No.6 (“Big Success’’)
IMPROVED JOCKEY

IMPROVED JOCKEY (“Cabinet Jockey’’)
BULL’S EYE (1-Way)

BULL’S EYE (5-Way)

NEW IDEA CIGAR MACHINE (non-coin)
IMPROVED LITTLE PERFECTION
1903 LITTLE MONTE CARLO (1-Way)
1903 LITTLE MONTE CARLO (5-Way)
1903 I WILL

JUMBO SUCCESS No.7 (“Big Success’’)
JUMBO SUCCESS, JR.

SUCCESS No.8 (“Little Success’’)
SUCCESS JR.

RELIABLE

KING DODO (5-Way)

Date

October
April
January

January

December
December
December

January

1904

1904
1907

1900
1901
1902

191/
1897

1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1900
1900
1900
1900
1900
1900
1900
1900
1900
1901
1901
1901
1901
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1903
1903
1903
1903
1903
1903
1903
1903
1902
1903
1903

179

180

Manufacturer and Location
Format

Drop Cards
Pop Cards
Card Reels
Drop Cards
Drop Cards
Number Reels
Drop Cards
Drop Cards
Drop Cards
Drop Cards
Drop Cards
Card Reels
Drop Cards
Card Reels
Pointer

Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reel
Card Reel
Novelty Reel
Color Reel
Card Reel
Novelty Reel
Spot Reel
Novelty Reel
Spot Reel
Drop Cards
Spot Reel
Drop Cards
Drop Cards
Drop Cards
Card Reels
Pinfield
Pointer

Spot Reel
Color Reel
Novelty Reel
Color Reel
Novelty Reel
Color Reel
Drop Cards
Number Reels
Card Reels
Dice

Dice

Card Reel
Novelty Reel
Spot Reel
Number Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Card Reels
Color Reel
Novelty Reel
Color Reel
Color Reel
Baseball Reel
Pointer
Pointer
Pointer

Coin Drop
Pointer
Baseball Reel
Dice
Roulette —

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Name Date
KING DODO (3-Way)
FLORADORA

HY-LO

1904 RELIABLE

DRAW POKER

PURITAN

COMMERCIAL
COMMERCIAL VENDER
SPECIAL COMMERCIAL
COMMERCIAL (“Turntable’’)
SENTRY

CALIFORNIA JACK

PEERLESS

PEERLESS CALIFORNIA JACK
ARROW (CIGAR SALESMAN)
SUPERIOR

SUPERIOR WITH STAND
NATIVE SON

ELK (“Card Reel’’)

ELK

EXPORT ELK

SPECIAL

PILOT

NEW DRAW POKER
IMPROVED ELK

VICTOR

SPECIAL VICTOR

VICTOR (MIRROR TOP)
VICTOR CALIFORNIA JACK
LITTLE DREAM
SKILL-A-GALLE

EAGLE (“Little Pilot’’)

EAGLE (“Little Pilot’)

CHECK BOY (‘Mythology Reel’’)
CHECK BOY

CHECK BOY GUM VENDER (“Mythology Reel’’)
CHECK BOY GUM VENDER
NATIONAL

IMPROVED PURITAN

LITTLE GEM

CRAP SHOOTER

ON THE LEVEL

PIPPIN

IMPROVED SPECIAL
IMPROVED SPECIAL
IMPROVED SPECIAL
IMPERIAL PURITAN

PILGRIM

HY-LO

COUNTER HY-LO

E’ LAN (ELK)

SPECIAL EXPORT
AEROPLANE

L’ AEROPLAN

UMPIRE

PROFIT SHARING REGISTER STYLE A
PROFIT SHARING REGISTER STYLE B
PROFIT SHARING REGISTER STYLE C
(UNKNOWN)

ARROW

IMPROVED UMPIRE

PIPPIN JACKPOT

SCARAB

August
March

April

June

June
June

March

February

1903
1903
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1904
1905
1906
1906
1906
1906
1906
1906
1906
1906
1906
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1907
1908
1909
1909
1909
1909
1909
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
Iot2
1912
1912
I9t2
1913
19t5
1914
1914

THE 100 MACHINES

Manufacturer and Location

Format Name
Roulette SCARAB (GUM) VENDER
Wheels DANDY VENDER
Pointer NEW ARROW
Pinfield SILENT SALESMAN
Shooter TARGET PRACTICE
Shooter STAR TARGET PRACTICE
Milwaukee Furniture And Show Case Repairing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Pinfield (UNKNOWN)
Modern Novelty Company, Detroit, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Lionel H. Moise, San Francisco, California
Drop Cards (UNKNOWN)
Charles Molitor Novelty Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Card Reels JOCKEY
Card Reels FLOOR JOCKEY
Monarch Card Machine Company, San Francisco, California
Drop Cards MONARCH CARD MACHINE
Drop Cards IMPROVED MONARCH CARD MACHINE
Drop Cards DRAW POKER
Drop Cards BROWNIE
M. E. Moore, Chicago, Illinois
Dice DICE BOX (non-coin)
Cornelius S. Morris, Moline, Illinois
Pointer (UNKNOWN)
J. D. Morris, Portland, Oregon
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Mueller And Bader Novelty Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Murdock And Murdock, Washington, District of Columbia
Race Game (UNKNOWN)
Race Game (UNKNOWN)
D. P. Murphy, New York
Race Game (UNKNOWN)
William H. Murphy, Brenham, Texas
Race Game (UNKNOWN)
Murray, Spink And Company, Providence, Rhode Island
Pointer (UNKNOWN)
Pointers 3 DIAL FORTUNE
Samuel Nafew Company, New York, New York
Coin Drop TRADE VENDING MACHINE
Drop Cards LITTLE MODEL CARD MACHINE
Drop Cards MODEL CARD MACHINE
Card Reels MODEL
Wheels THE L.A.W. (BICYCLE)
Nafew-Goldberg Company, New York, New York
Dice SQUARE DEAL
Card Reels CARD MACHINE
National Manufacturing Company, New York, New York
Roulette LITTLE MONTE CARLO
Coin Drop THE DEWEY
National Automatic Device Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Race Game AUTOMATIC RACE COURSE

National Automaton Company, Washington Court House, Ohio

Dice Reels THE ELECTRICAL SHELL MAN
T. J. Nertney Manufacturing Company, Ottawa, Illinois
Wheel COINOGRAPH SALESMAN
Roulette IMPROVED AUTOMATIC ROULETTE
Card Reels UPRIGHT PERFECTION
Card Reels JUMBO
Card Reels CHECK JUMBO
Wheel MASCOT
L. Nessue, Portland, Oregon
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Frank Netschert, New York, New York
(Unknown) SLOT MACHINE

New York Amusement Company, New York, New York
Card Reels (UNKNOWN)

Date

January
January

December

June
August

December

June
June

April

November

February

April

September

1914
1915
1916
1916
1918
1919
1903
1895
1894

1900
1900

1895
1895
1896
1897
1887
1890
1906
1895

1889
1890

1888
1886

1892
1892

1894
1894
1895
1896
1898

1893
1894

1897
1898

1889
1893
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1898
1907
1904

1890

18]

182

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Manufacturer and Location
Format Name Date

Joseph Nichols, Chicago, Illinois

Pointer (UNKNOWN) May
Pointer DEWEY SALESMAN
Sidney T. Nimmo, Baltimore, Maryland
Marbles GAME-OF-CHANCE May
Edward J. Noble, Hartford, Connecticut
Race Game (UNKNOWN) July
Nonpariel Novelty Company, New Haven, Connecticut
Pointer (UNKNOWN)
Northwestern Automatic Machine Company, Seattle, Washington
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Northwestern Novelty Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Coin Drop (UNKNOWN)
Novelty Cigar Company, Portland, Oregon
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Novelty Iron Works, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Pinfield (UNKNOWN) January
Novelty Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Novelty Manufacturing Company, Los Angeles, California
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Novelty Manufacturing Company, South Grand Rapids, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Novelty Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Card Reels (UNKNOWN)
Novelty Works Company, Detroit, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
James D. O’Donoghue, Brooklyn, New York
Race Game (UNKNOWN) October
Oakland Novelty Company, Oakland, California
Drop Cards OAKLAND
Ogden And Company, Chicago, Illinois
Card Reels CARD MACHINE
Coin Drop HEAD OR TAIL
Dice BIG SIX
Coin Drop THE HOOSIER
Card Reels UPRIGHT PERFECTION
Pointer DEWEY SALESMAN
W. M. Ostrander And Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Overton Manufacturing Company, Topeka, Kansas
Wheel THE WHEEL
Pacific Electrical Works, San Francisco, California
Poker Reels PERFECTION
Page Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Pointer SALES INCREASER (“Drinks On The House’’)
Pointer SALES INCREASER (“Profits Shared’)
Pointer SALES INCREASER (“Free Merchandise’’)
Pana Enterprise Manufacturing Company, Pana, Illinois
Pointer NEW IMPROVED FAIREST WHEEL (THE FAIREST WHEEL)
Park Novelty Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Pointer RED BIRD
E. D. Parker And Company, Springfield, Ohio
Wheel SPIRAL
Frank T. Parritt, Bloomington, Illinois
Coin Drop (CIGAR) April
C. Passow And Sons, Chicago, Illinois
Card Reels CHICAGO (PERFECTION)
Patent Purchase Company, New York, New York
Dice HONEST DICE BOX (non-coin)
Paupa And Hochriem, Chicago, Illinois
Coin Drop NEW TRADE MACHINE November
Card Reel THE ELK (Model 7) February
Card Reel ELK
Spot Reel PILOT (Model 8) February
Spot Reel — IMPROVED ELK (Model 9) March

Novelty Reel GOOSE

1897
1898

1896
1905
1892
1902
1898
1907
1912
1891
1893
1895
1895
1887
1883
1902
1897
1897
1897
1898
1898
1898
1896
1894
1895
1909
1909
1909
1907
1903
1904
1897
1909
1892
1899
1904
1905
1906

1906
1906

THE 100 MACHINES

Manufacturer and Location

Format Name
Novelty Reel DUCK.
Color Reel EAGLE
Dice CRAP SHOOTER
Card Reel SPECIAL ELK
Novelty Reel COMET (Model 10)
Novelty Reel LA COMETE (Model 10)
Shooter (UNKNOWN)
Shooter (UNKNOWN)
Pearsall And Finkbeiner, Syracuse, New York
Coin Drop (UNKNOWN)
Wheel (UNKNOWN)
Peerless Manufacturing Company, Fenton, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Orin L. Percival, Champaign, Illinois
Wheel CIGAR WHEEL
Perfection Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Michigan
(Unknown) PERFECTION
Perfection Novelty Company, New York, New York
Coin Drop WALL STREET BANK
Card Reels PERFECTION
Perfection Novelty Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(Unknown) PERFECTION
Perpichnick, Chicago, Illinois
Card Reels (UNKNOWN)
Peter Manufacturing Company, St. Louis, Missouri
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Phillips Farm Supply, Hardware And Furniture, Carbondale, Illinois
Dice CIGAR VENDER
Dice PHILLIPS
Albert Pick And Company, Chicago, Illinois
Dice (UNKNOWN)
Race Game RACE TRACK
Irving L. Pitkin, Ravenna, Ohio
Dice (UNKNOWN)
Pitton Novelty Company Limited, Detroit, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Portland Novelty Company, Portland, Oregon
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
The Portland Novelty Company, Portland, Oregon
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Portland Novelty Works, Portland, Oregon
Poker Reels OREGON
Pratt And Letchworth, Buffalo, New York
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Premier Novelty Company, Chicago, Illinois
(Unknown) LITTLE EGYPTIAN FORTUNE TELLER
Charles K. Probes, Elmira, New York
Pinfield (UNKNOWN)
Progressive Manufacturing Company, Pana, Illinois
Pointer WIZARD CLOCK (“2 Column’)
Pointer WIZARD CLOCK (“4 Column’)
Pointer DIXON SPECIAL
Progressive Novelty Company, Pana, Illinois
Wheel THE FAIREST WHEEL
Wheel FAIREST WHEEL
Wheel OUR VERY BEST
Puritan Machine Company, Detroit, Michigan
Number Reels PURITAN
Color Reels PURITAN
Spot Reels HIAWATHA JR.
Number Reels CHECK-PAY PURITAN
Card Reels PILGRIM
Queen City Novelty Works, Cincinnati, Ohio
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)

Reber And Rund, Seattle, Washington
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)

Date

January

June
June

August

January

February
July

November

March
August

August

January

May
May

1906
1906
1906
1907
1910
1910
1917
|

1898
1898

1893
1896
1897

1895
1896

1914
1897
1902

1904
1912

1896
1903

1892
1901
1893
1901
1901
1890
L919
1904
1906
1906
1907
1899
1900
1900
1904
1904
1904
1905
1906
1895

1908

183

184 TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Manufacturer and Location
Format Name Date

George H. Reid Slot Machines, Cleveland, Ohio

Card Reels CARD GRIP September 1893

Card Reels COUNTER CARD GRIP September 1893
Reliance Manufacturing Company, New Haven, Connecticut

(Unknown) RELIANCE 1895
Reliance Novelty Company, San Francisco, California

Drop Cards RELIANCE June 1896

Drop Cards VICTOR 1896

Drop Cards TROPHY 1897

Drop Cards STANDARD 1897

Pointer THREE SPINDLE 1897

Drop Cards PEERLESS 5-SLOT 1897

Drop Cards ELITE 1898
Rennert Novelty Company, Detroit, Michigan

Wheel (UNKNOWN) February 1902
Riggs Amusement Company, New York, New York

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) December 1902
Earl A. Robinson Novelties, Providence, Rhode Island

Shooter THE NEW PIANO GAME 1909
August F. Roesch, St. Louis, Missouri

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1912
Julius Roever, Brooklyn, New York

Roulette (UNKNOWN) February 1894
Rogers Manufacturing Company, New York, New York

Wheel PENNY CIGAR July 1904
Roovers Brothers, Brooklyn, New York

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1908
Rose City Importing Company, Portland, Oregon

Coin Drop (UNKNOWN) November 1911
Rosenfield Manufacturing Company, New York, New York

Card Reels CARD MACHINE 1894

Card Reels 3-SLOT CARD MACHINE (“Jockey’’) June 1900
R. Rothschild’s And Sons, New York, New York

Race Game AUTOMATIC RACE TRACK 1889

Pointer AMUSEMENT MACHINE 1889
Royal Card Machine Company, San Francisco, California

Drop Cards PERFECTION 1897
Royal Machine Company, Kent, Ohio

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) October 1890
Royal Novelty Company, San Francisco, California

Card Reels TRADER 1902

Dice DICE 1912
F. A. Ruff, Detroit, Michigan

Dice CRAP SHOOTER’S DELIGHT 1900

Wheel THE DEWEY 1904
Huntley Russell, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Coin Drop WATCH YOUR MONEY July 1893
St. Louis Patent And Manufacturing Company, St. Louis, Missouri

Coin Drop (UNKNOWN) 1895
J. Salm Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1899
Sammis Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1907
Sanderson And Son, Chicago, Illinois

Dice (UNKNOWN) November 1892
Edward A. Sanquinet, St. Louis, Missouri

Race Game (UNKNOWN) July 1902
John Sassoe, San Francisco, California

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1904
T. R. Savage And Company, Bangor, Maine

Dice (UNKNOWN) 1893
D. N. Schall And Company, Chicago, Illinois

Card Reels PERFECTION 1899

Card Reels SUCCESS 1901

Card Reels JUMBO SUCCESS 1901

Card Reels. FANCY JUMBO 1901

Schiemer- Yates Company, Detroit, Michigan

THE 100 MACHINES

Manufacturer and Location

Format Name
Card Reels HI-LO
Card Reels HI-LO VENDER
Schloss And Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Dice (UNKNOWN)
Schultze Novelty Company, San Francisco, California
Dice MIDGET
Roulette MIDGET
Richard M. Shaffer, Baltimore, Maryland
Dice (UNKNOWN)
Sicking Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Card Reels SUCCESS
Card Reels THE HAMILTON
Card Reels IRON CARD MACHINE NO.8
Card Reels COUNTER IRON CARD MACHINE NO.8
Card Reels CENTURY GRAND
Card Reels COUNTER CENTURY GRAND
Sidway Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
M. Siersdorfer And Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Shooter HILLMAN COIN TARGET BANK
Shooter COIN TARGET BANK
Silver King Novelty Company, Indianapolis, Indiana
Baseball Reel BASEBALL
Number Reels SQUAW (PURITAN)
Card Reels OLD FORT (PILGRIM)
Number Reels INDIAN (MAYFLOWER)
Card Reels DRAW POKIER
Pinfield 1918 INDIAN PIN POOL
Sittman And Pitt, Brooklyn, New York
Drop Cards MODEL CARD MACHINE
Drop Cards MODEL (AUTOMATIC POKER PLAYER)
Drop Cards LITTLE MODEL CARD MACHINE
Drop Cards MODEL DRAW POKER
Drop Cards BROWNIE
Drop Cards DRAW POKER
Skeen And Farmer, St. Louis, Missouri
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
James B. Slinn, San Francisco, California
Dice DICE BOX
Sloan Novelty Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pinfield THE LEADER
Slot Machine Company, New York, New York
Dice SLOT MACHINE
Samuel I. Smith, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Wheels (UNKNOWN)
Willard A. Smith, Providence, Rhode Island
Pointers 3 DIAL FORTUNE
Pointer LITTLE JOKER STYLE A
Pointer LITTLE JOKER STYLE B
Smith, Winchester Manufacturing Company, South Windham, Connecticut
Pointer GUESSING BANK
Smokers Supply Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Wheel CIGAR DICE
W. G. Souder, New York, New York
Poker Reels CARD MACHINE
Specialty Machine Works, San Francisco, California
Dice PORTOLA
Dice IMPROVED PORTOLA
Specialty Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Square Deal Machine Company, New York, New York
Dice SQUARE DEAL
Standard
Pointers THE STANDARD

Star Trade Register Company, Montpelier, Vermont
Wheel | STAR TRADE REGISTER

Date

May
May

October
October

December

1905

June

March

October

December

July

March

June

May

December

October

1904
1904

1893

1910
1910

1892
1902
1903
1905

1906
1906

1898

1894
1894

1914
Lely
1917
1917
1917
1o17
1891
1893
1894
1895
1897
1898
1893
1891
1910
1892
1894
1892
1893
1893
1877
1918
1896

1905
1906

1904
1904
1892

1901

185

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Manufacturer and Location
Format Name Date

Stark, Buffalo, New York

Card Reels JUMBO SUCCESS 1894
Clarence M. Stiner, New York, New York

Marbles (UNKNOWN) April 1892
B. A. Stevens Company, Toledo, Ohio

Dice SLOT DICE SHAKER 1893

Dice RIVAL (non-coin) 1894

Wheel STAR 1894
J. And E. Stevens Company, Cromwell, Connecticut

Race Game RACE COURSE August 1871

Race Game BIG RACE COURSE 1871

Race Game RACE AGAINST TIME 1871
J. W. Stirrup Manufacturing Company, New York, New York

Roulette FAIREST ROULETTE 1896

Roulette WINNER ROULETTE 1897

Roulette AUTOMATIC CIGAR SELLER November 1897
Streater, Streater, Illinois

Wheel STAR (non-coin) 1904
Stuckey Cigar Company, Lancaster, Ohio

Wheel STUCKEY CIGAR 1900
Sun Manufacturing Company, Columbus, Ohio

Wheels BICYCLE 1898

Wheels IMPROVED BICYCLE 1903
Sundwall Company, Seattle, Washington

Drop Cards ELITE 1905

Drop Cards TUXEDO 1906
King And Sundwall, Seattle, Washington

Drop Cards ELITE 1903
William Suydam, New York, New York

Race Game NEW STYLE RACE TRACK 1880

Pointer DIAMOND WHEEL 1883
Sweeney, California

Drop Cards CARD MACHINE 1907
James P. Taylor, Fort Worth, Texas

Marble DREAM REVEALER April 1893
Edmund A. Thompson, Amherst, Massachusetts

Race Game RACE COURSE (non-coin) July 1874
Tibbils Manufacturing Company, Rochester, New York

Card Reels 4 CARD February 1891

Card Reels POKER SOLITAIRE 1891

Card Reels CARD MACHINE 1891

Card Reels CARD MACHINE 1892

Card Reels SUCCESS 1893

Card Reels JUMBO SUCCESS 1893
Charles Timroth, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) January 1900
Tivoli Automatic Machine And Amusement Company, Seattle, Washington

Pop Cards TIVOLI 1906
Transcontinental Machine Company, Portland, Oregon

Card Reels (UNKNOWN) 1901
Troxler Novelty Introduction Company, Newark, New Jersey

Shooter 10 TO 1 December 1893
Twentieth Century Novelty Company, Springfield, Ohio

Wheel SPIRAL February 1903
United Automatic Machine Company, Kansas City, Missouri

Dice 6-WAY DICE 1902
United States Music Company, Chicago, Illinois

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN) 1909
United States Novelty company, Chicago, Illinois

Dice WINNER November 1893

Dice LUCKY 1894

Pointer JOKER February 1894
U. S. Novelty Company, Kansas City, Missouri

Dice (UNKNOWN) November 1893
Universal

Race Game AUTOMATIC RACE TRACK 1889

Race Game IMPROVED HORSERACE GAME 1891

Manufacturer and Location

Format

(Unknown)
Pointer
Pointer
Pointer
(Unknown)
Pinfield
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Wheel
Pinfield
Pinfield
Wheels
Pointer
Wheel
(Unknown)
Wheels
Card Reels
Wheel

(Unknown)

Wheel
Wheel

THE 100 MACHINES

Name

Universal Advertising Machine Company, Kittery, Maine

(UNKNOWN)

Valley City Novelty Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan

(UNKNOWN)

Valley City Slot Machine Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan

(UNKNOWN)

Victor Novelty Works, Chicago, Illinois

ARROW

C. C. Vogolsong, Emeryville, California

(UNKNOWN)

John M. Waddel Manufacturing Company, Greenfield, Ohio

ROOLO (non-coin)

THE BICYCLE WHEEL

DISCOUNT BICYCLE WHEEL

BICYCLE DISCOUNT WHEEL (“Square Wheel’)
BICYCLE DISCOUNT WHEEL (“Large Square Wheel’’)
PLAY BALL (non-coin)

DANCING DOLLS

THE BICYCLE

BOOMER

Waddell Wooden Ware Works Company, Greenfield, Ohio

REVOLUTION CIGAR WHEEL

Wagaer Amusement Company, St. Louis, Missouri

(UNKNOWN)

Charles A. Wagner Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois

COMMODORE

Wagner Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois

JUMBO

Wain And Bryant Company, Detroit, Michigan

ZODIAC

Wakeley Novelty Works, Pasadena, California

(UNKNOWN)

Wales Manufacturing Company, Syracuse, New York

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Watling Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Card Reels PERFECTION
Card Reels SUCCESS
Card Reels JUMBO SUCCESS
Card Reels FANCY JUMBO
Card Reels FANCY JUMBO SUCCESS
Card Reels THE CLOVER (3-WAY)
Card reels THE CLOVER PINOCHLE
Card Reels No.9 CARD MACHINE
Card Reels THE JOCKEY
Card Reels THE JOCKEY CABINET
Pointers THREE ARROW
Pointers THE FULL DECK
Wheel THE PURITANA
Wheel MECCA
Wheel BUFFALO, JR.
Card Reel THE MOOSE
Poker Reels LITTLE DUKE
Drop Cards DRAW POKER
Spot Reel IMPROVED ELK
Spot Reel SPECIAL ELK
Spot Reel PILOT
Pop Cards NATIONAL
Dice WINNER DICE
Fruit Reels THE MERCHANT
Card Reels PILGRIM
Number Reels PURITAN
Spot Reels MAYFLOWER STYLE A
Fruit Reels MAYFLOWER STYLE B
Number Reels MAYFLOWER STYLE C
Number Reels MAYFLOWER STYLE D

CHECK TRADER (6-Way)
CHECK TRADER (5-Way)

Date

January

May

May
July

July
October

March

February

January
January
January
January

February

1894
1894
1893
1901
1894

1896
1896
1896
1897
1897
1897
Leo?
1897
1897

1oTy
1902
1899
1902
1902
1892
1889

1902
1902
1902
1902
1903
1903
1903
1903
1903
1903
1904
1905
1905
1905
1905
1905
1905
1907
1906
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1910
1910
1911
191i
1911
1911
1914
1914

187

188

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Manufacturer and Location
Format Name

Baseball reel BASE-BALL
John J. Watson, Buffalo, New York

Multiple Game COMBINATION CARD AND DICE MACHINE
Webster Manufacturing Company, Bay City, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Jacob Wedesweiler, Chicago, Illinois
Dice DICE BOX (non-coin)
Samuel Welsh Cigars, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dice (UNKNOWN)
Western Company, Chicago, Illinois
Dice CIGAR AND BLOWING MACHINE
Wheel WESTERN WHEEL
Western Automatic Machine Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Pinfield NICKEL TICKLER
Pointers ECLIPSE
Roulette IMPROVED ROULETTE
Western Novelty Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Western Weighing Machine Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
Pinfield NICKEL TICKLER
Pointers ECLIPSE (TWO ARROW MACHINE)
Weston And Smith, Syracuse, New York
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Weston Slot Machine Company, Syracuse, New York
Pinfields SLOT MACHINE
William H. Wheaton, Chicago, Illinois
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Charles E. Wheeland And Company, Salt Lake City, Utah
Pinfield (Unknown)
Pinfield (Unknown)
Pinfield (Unknown)
Wheeland Novelty Company, Seattle, Washington
Pinfield (UNKNOWN)
Pop Cards PERFECTION
Pop Cards CALIFORNIA
Pop Cards FLORADORA
Pop Cards OAKLAND
Charles Wheeler, Denver, Colorado
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Wheeler Novelty Company, Chicago, Illinois
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
(R. J.) White Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Card Reels THE SUCCESS
Card Reels JUMBO SUCCESS
Card Reels PERFECTION
Card reels LITTLE PERFECTION
Pinfield GAME O’SKILL
Card Reels JOCKEY 3-WAY
Card Reels COUNTER JOCKEY 3-WAY
Card Reels THE TRADER NO.1 (6-WAY)
Card Reels THE TRADER NO.?2 (3-WAY)
Card Reels THE TRADER NO.3 (non-coin)
Card Reels THE TRADER NO.4 (1-WAY)
Card Reels THE TRADER NO.5 (3-WAY)
Card Reels THE TRADER NO.6 (1-WAY)
William M. White Company, St. Louis, Missouri
Pointer WIZARD CLOCK
Percy G. Williams, Brooklyn, New York
Dice MONKEY DICE
Willoughby Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Coin Drop SLOT MACHINE
Winchell Novelty Works. Syracuse, New York
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Smith Winchester Manufacturing Company, South Windham, Connecticut
Pointer GUESSING BANK
Wolf Manufacturing Company,Inc., Seattle, Washington

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)

Date

January

December

October

August

March
March
September

April

March
October

October
October

December

January

1915
1894
1895
1876
1892

1898
1898

1893
1894
1894

1899

1893
1894

1884
1892
1909

1894
1896
1897

1900
1901
1901
1902
1902

1909
1891

1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902
1902

1907
1889
1901
1909
1876

1915

THE 100 MACHINES

Manufacturer and Location
Format Name Date

Wolverine Novelty Company, Detroit, Michigan

(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
World’s Fair Slot Machine Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Pointer COLUMBIAN FORTUNE TELLER December
Lindley A. Wright, Champaign, Illinois
Wheel RED, WHITE AND BLUE August
Levi W. Yaggy, Lake Forest, Illinois
Disks FUNNY FACES January
Yale Wonder Clock Company, Burlington, Vermont
Pointer YALE WONDER CLOCK July
Pointer ADVERTISING AND DISCOUNT MACHINE April
Pointer 1901 ADVERTISING AND DISCOUNT MACHINE February
Drop Cards AUTOMATIC CASHIER AND DISCOUNT MACHINE July
Charles P. Young, York, Pennsylvania
Roulette AUTOMATIC ROULETTE November
W. J. Young And Company, San Francisco, California
Dice THE LARK
Willard B. Young, New York, New York
Dice (UNKNOWN) March
Ypsilanti Novelty Works, Ypsilanti, Michigan
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Unidentified Manufacturers
Coin Drop JUMBO (THE ELEPHANT) Circa
Dice (6-WAY) Circa
Dice “THE SPITTOON DICER” Circa
Card Reels Lads, UK. Circa
Dice (Hexagonal Base) Circa
Dice (Triangular Base) Circa
Wheel THE UMBRELLA Circa
Wheel FIRE ENGINE Circa
Shooter SKILLIARD November
Wheel RED STAR Circa

Australian Trade Stimulators
Manufacturer and Location

Format Name Date
George McMullen, Perth, Western Australia
Number Reels (UNKNOWN) July

Canadian Trade Stimulators
Manufacturer and Location

Format Name Date
Canada (Novelty Company)
Card Reels LITTLE PERFECT
Enterprise Novelty Company, Calgary, Alberta
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Fowler And Wheeler, Calgary, Alberta
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Northwestern Novelty Company Limited, Calgary, Alberta
(Unknown) (UNKNOWN)
Totem Manufacturing Company, Calgary, Alberta
Coin Drop TOTEM

British Trade Stimulators
Manufacturer and Location

Format Name Date
Archibald

Race Game HORSES March
Automatic Machines Limited, Islington, England

Wheel (UNKNOWN)

Ball Flip (UNKNOWN) December
Automatic Skill Machines Company, London, England

Pinfield PAVILLION

Pinfield FORTUNA
William H. Britain, London, England

Race Game FOUR-HORSE RACE

Race Game THE MECHANICAL WALKING RACE

1891
1892
1896
1898
1899
1900
1901
1905
1893
1907
1893
1891
1890
1894
1894
1895
1896
1896
1897
1902

1903
1906

1901

1916
iSl7
1910
1910

1914

1899

1900
1900

1901
1901

1886
1888

189

190

TRADE STIMULATORS 2

Manufacturer and Location

Format Name

Race Game PENNY-FARTHING BICYCLE RACE
Bucknell

Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)
Cocozza And Jannece

Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)
Cook And Bauer

Race Game (UNKNOWN)
Cresset Automatic Machine Company, Kent, England

Shooter (UNKNOWN)
Demelius

Coin Drop (UNKNOWN)
Ellman

Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)
F. E. Fensom

Coin Drop (UNKNOWN)
Foster And Foster

Ball Flip TIVOLI
Gallery

Shooter (UNKNOWN)
Gamages of Holborn, England

Pinfield TIVOLI CIGAR MACHINE
Gaster And Norrell

Coin Drop (UNKNOWN)
Haigh And Pickles

Race Game SCULL RACE

Race Game HORSE RACE
Hardyman

Wheel (UNKNOWN)
Walter Hart, Kent, England

Pointers (UNKNOWN)
Harvey

Coin Drop (UNKNOWN)
Haydon And Urry Limited, Islington, England

Pinfields TIVOLI

Shooter SHOOTING FOR GOAL

Coin Drop (UNKNOWN)

Shooter BARRELS
Herzog

Multiple Game (UNKNOWN)
Humphris And Forster

Coin Drop THE ANVIL
Jackson

Pointer (UNKNOWN)
Jaconelli

Coin Flip (UNKNOWN)
John Jaques And Son Limited, London, England

Race Game ELECTROLETTE

Race Game THE NEW RACING GAME
E. J. Jofeh, England

Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)

Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)
Kaiser And Cushion

Ball Flip THE CLOWN
Mancini

Ball Flip TIVOLI
Man

Race Game (UNKNOWN)
W. Margot

Shooter (UNKNOWN)

Coin Drop (UNKNOWN)
Maxfield And Company, London, England

Race Game PARLOR RACE GAME
Maynard

Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)

G. W. de Melven
Shooter (UNKNOWN)

Date

January
February
January
June
January
March
October
October

July

August

July
November

March
March
April

May
October
October
April
November
December

December

1888
1899
i915
1898
1914
1906
1914
1897
I9h2
1898
1905
1900

1899
1899

1914
1899
1914
1892
1895
1899
1900
1914
1899
1919
1914

1888
1890

September 1915
September 1916

June
January
March

June
April

March

June

1914

1909

1900

1898
1900

1882

1919

September 1900

Manufacturer and Location
Format

THE 100 MACHINES

Name

Charles Middlebrook, London, England

Manufacturer and Location
Format
Barme
Wheel
Beraud, Paris
Ball Flip
Bidard
Wheel
Wheel
Brevete S.G.D.G.
Dice

Race Game (UNKNOWN)
Miller
Shooter (UNKNOWN)
Mocogni
Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)
Newton, Smith And Rhodes
Shooter (UNKNOWN)
William S. Oliver, London, England
Race Game (UNKNOWN)
Palmer And Hartley, Birmingham, England
Race Game CYCLE RACE
Shooter (UNKNOWN)
Persichini
Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)
Pessers And Moody, London, England
Shooter (UNKNOWN)
Plunger (UNKNOWN)
Pessers, Moody, Wraith And Gurr, London, England
Shooter (UNKNOWN)
Price And Castell, London, England
Coin Drop GAME OF SKILL
Shooter (UNKNOWN)
R. C. Richards
Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)
Robertson
Shooter (UNKNOWN)
Sandoz
Race Game HORSE RACE
Race Game CYCLE RACE
Race Game LOCOMOTIVE RACE
Scott
Shooter (UNKNOWN)
Gordon H. Smith
Roulette (UNKNOWN)
Verrecchia
Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)
Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)
Ball Flip (UNKNOWN)
Walter
Wheel (UNKNOWN)
Wegg
Ball flip (UNKNOWN)
R. E. Wickes
Coin Drop (UNKNOWN)
Unidentified Manufacturers
Pointer DUNSTAN’S CIGAR SELLER

French Trade Stimulators

Name
MEPHISTO (THE DEVIL)
LE MAGIC (MAGIC)

LA GRENOUILLERE (FROG’S POND)
LE PERE BIDARD (OLD MAN BIDARD)

SUPER-POKER

La Compagnie Caille (Cie Caille), Paris

Novelty Reel
Spot Reel
Spot Reel
Spot Reel
Spot Reel
Dice Reels

L’ AEROPLAN
LE TIGRE (3-Way)
LE TIGRE (5-Way)
LA COMETE (3-Way)
LA COMETE (5-Way)
MATADOR

Date

March
June
April
April
February

September
April

December

March
September

March

October
June

December

August
November
December
March
November
January

November

Date

1910

1900
1909
L915
1911
1887

1899
1901

1915

1898
1899

1916

1898
1900

1913
1898
1901
1901
1901
1897
1900
1914
1916
1916
1913
1912
1899

1905

1905
1910

1900

1910

1905
1905
1905
1906
1906
1910

191

OTHER BUESCHEL VINTAGE COIN-OP BOOKS YOU WILL WANT:

PINBALL 1 —- ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL GUIDE TO PINBALL MACHINES series

The first in a series of ten volumes of pinball history and vintage machine collectibility by pinball historian Dick Bueschel.
Volume | deals with pinball history from BAGATELLE to BAFFLE BALL 1775-1931, covering the origins of pinball and
the “Depression Baby” boom, followed by descriptions and values for 100 different vintage pinballs of the past to the present
that are illustrated and fully described as to their features, graphics, playing characteristics and individual histories.

SLOTS 1 - ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO 100 COLLECTIBLE SLOT MACHINES series

This is the book that popularized the hobby of collecting slot machines, with a primer on how to get started. Now in a new
enlarged 10th Anniversary edition with collecting tips and values for 100 different slot machines. Additional volumes 2, 3
and 4 currently available with more in the works.

ARCADE 1 —- ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL GUIDE TO ARCADE MACHINES series

The first volume in the new Arcade Machine series by co-authors Dick Bueschel and Steve Gronowski. A complete history
of the arcade machine, with volume 1 covering Ancient Lands to Wonderlands 3600 PB to 1905, the beginnings of coin
operated public amusements and the appearance of the Penny Arcade. Five volumes projected in the series .

SCALES 1 —- ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL GUIDE TO COIN-OPERATED SCALES series
Co-authors Dick Bueschel and Bill Berning present the history of coin-op scales from the 1880’s to the present, plus a price
guide. Two projected volumes in the series. Volume | covering the years from 1883 to 1929 is due in 1993.

BUESCHEL'S SALOON SERIES by Dick Bueschel. Complete histories and reproductions of the saloon equipment
catalogs of the leading saloon supply houses circa 1875 until Prohibition in 1919. The first volume (in print) is "B.A.
Stevens and Company, Billiard and Bar Goods," of Toledo, Ohio. The second volume will be "Bott Bros. Bar Fixtures,
Billiard Tables & Supplies," of Columbus, Ohio. More in the works.

Invaluable help to collectors and restorers ... THE COIN SLOT ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
A series of historical, maintenance and repair guides that describe a family of payout slots, trade stimulators, arcade
machines, pinball games and scales and include the history of the machines, photos, advertising and the invaluable original
maintenance and repair manuals and parts lists. The one volume to date is Jennings Slot Machines 1906-1990.

JENNINGS SLOT MACHINES 1906-1990, Illustrated Historical, Maintenance and Repair Guide to Jennings
Mechanical and Electromechanical 3-Reel Bell Machines. A two-volume illustrated history of O.D. Jennings &
Company and its subsequent surviving firms. Individual histories and original factory photographs and literature for all
Jennings 3-reel slot machines produced between 1906 and 1990. Invaluable original maintenance and repair manuals for the
Jennings 3-reel Bell machines, including parts lists, servicing almost 600 different models of Jennings slot machines
identified in the book.

Call or Write for a Complete Current Book/Price List. Dealer Discounts Available.

HOFLIN PUBLISHING LTD.
4401 Zephyr Street
Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80033-3299 USA
(303) 420-2222 or (800) 352-5678
7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Denver time for MasterCard, Visa and Discover orders.

TRADE 2

Illustrated Guide to Collectible Trade Stimulators —
Volume 2
by Richard M. Bueschel

Including a guide to finding antique coin machines and a listing of popular trade stimulators — |
of the 1870-1919 period by maker, name and date.

Chapters and contents include:
@ New! A new updated foreword describing the growth of trade stimulator and counter game collecting
over the past decade, and insightful new notes on how to become a vintage trade stimulator collector |
and find machines.

@ 100 of the most popular trade stimulators and counter games illustrated and described.

@ New! 16 pages of old catalog pages and reproductions of rare and valuable trade stimulator spec
sheets from the 1890s to the 1920s.

* New! An invaluable listing of over 1,000 known popular trade stimulators from the 1870-1919
period, both domestic and offshore, listed by manufacturers, machines, names and dates. ©

@ New! Pull-out price guide section of current values for all 100 different featured machines covering six
levels of condition prepared by a panel of eight trade stimulator and counter game collectors and dealers.

@ New! Updated editorial and all new photographs throughout the book.
@ How to maintain and repair your trade stimulator or counter game and keep it in working condition.
@ New! Nearly 60 more pages, plus everything in the original edition. It’s a new book!

If you’re new to the field of vintage coin-operated trade stimulator and counter game collecting, or have been looking for
copies of the rare original advertising and sales literature, you'll want a copy of Trade 2. This updated edition of the
standard reference book on this machine genre has been completely re-edited and re-written to incorporate the latest
information while correcting past errors of judgement and description. The purpose is to make this a key volume in the
single most useful series of books that a trade stimulator and counter game coin-op non-payout collector can have on a
library shelf. Except it won’t stay there. You’ll find yourself constantly referring to its information packed pages while
taking its price guide insert along to auctions and shops and on buying trips. Its original advertising and plates will aid you
in reliable restoration of your treasured machines. Even if you are not a collector and just enjoy the look and ambience of
these chance taking teasers, there is much for you to enjoy in Trade 2.

When the original edition of Trade 2 was published in January 1981 it immediately took its place as the basic guidebook of
data and prices for its 100 select machines. Now out of print, it is being brought back in this new and expanded edition to
bring the story of these machines up to date, provide current pricing and make for a good read. Settle down with Trade 2
and you won't put it down. It’s everything the original was, plus more. Retail $29.95 plus $2 postage.

: Send for free list of latest offerings.
Hoflin Publishing Ltd. is the largest and foremost publishing house serving the rapidly growing field of vintage coin
machine historians, collectors, dealers and operators. Send for a free brochure of our latest offerings. Write Hoflin
Publishing Ltd., 4401 Zephyr Street, Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80033-3299 USA. Call (303) 420-2222 or (800) 352-5678 |
7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Denver time for MC, Visa and Discover orders.

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